Presideent Sergio Mattarella in his year-end address to the nation, live on all TV channels against the backdrop of an iconic photo of the 1946 victory of the referendum for the Republic, reviewed 80 years of Italian history saying Italy's true strength lay in its social cohesion and told its young people not to give up and to choose their future.
The president started his 15-minute address by looking at the international stage saying: "The refusal of those who deny peace because they feel stronger is repugnant.
Faced with the bombing of Ukrainian cities and the devastation of Gaza, faced with the homes and dwellings devastated by the bombing of Ukrainian cities, faced with the destruction of power plants, leaving children, the elderly, women, and men to endure the freezing winters of those territories, faced with the devastation of Gaza, where newborns are freezing to death, the desire for peace is ever greater, and the refusal of those who deny it because they feel stronger becomes ever more incomprehensible and repugnant." Mattarella then lokked back to the Italy's own "Constituent Assembly, elected in conjunction with the referendum that sanctioned the republican choice, (which) was able to find a highly valuable synthesis while the political debate unfolded amidst convergences and disagreements, some of which were very strong.
