EU

President #Tajani in Italy: 'Our Europe is the Europe of citizens'

Published

9 years ago

January 30, 2017

Antonio Tajani made his first official visit to Italy as president of the European Parliament on 27-30 January. During the visit Tajani met Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and Pietro Grasso and Laura Boldrini, the presidents of the chambers of the Italian parliament . While visiting a soup kitchen in Rome Tajani said: “Our Europe is the Europe of citizens.”

During the visit Tajani stressed he and the Italian authoriies agreed on what the EU's future should be. After meeting Mattarella, Tajani said on Twitter: “We agree on the need to strengthen the European Union to safeguard its values."

On Monday morning, after speaking with prime minister Gentiloni, Tajani condemned the terrorist attack in a mosque in Quebec, Canada: "Those who kill in the name of God are the killers of God themselves. Violence is never the answer against terrorism, dialogue is the real solution. The European Union believes in interreligious dialogue, we have always worked and will continue working in this direction."

Visiting the Community of Sant’Egidio soup kitchen in Rome’s district of Trastevere, Tajani underlined his commitment to social issues: “I promised to dedicate my first day as president to the earthquake victims and to people living in poverty. Here in Sant'Egidio those who are in need can have a hot meal and be welcomed. This sends out a strong signal."

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