“Von Der Leyen and Lagarde? In addition to being two women, they are two figures with a very solid curriculum. And above all, if the Government understood it, they are two positive appointments for Italy”. Commenting with FIRSTonline on the European appointments and the latest burning cases of international news, from the Sea Watch to the refinancing of the Libyan coast guard, is the Honorable Lia Quartapelle, 36, already in her second term as a member of the Democratic Party and a great expert on international issues, to the point that in recent years her candidacy for the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been mooted in place of Federica Mogherini. In the agitated days between the arrest of commander Carola in Lampedusa and the attack on the refugee camp in Tripoli which caused at least 60 deaths, it was she who drew up the document of the Democratic Party which espoused the Minniti line on Libya, even if the party – to keep all its souls together – preferred to abstain: “There was a normal confrontation, no division. And the result achieved is the right one”.
Mr, what exactly do you mean by the right outcome on Libya? That of not confirming the agreements with Tripoli of the centre-left governments?
“The agreements remain in force and the document voted on by the groups recognizes their validity. With our vote, we only called into question the Coast Guard mission (one of four in Libya) because in Libya the situation has completely changed, for the worse, especially as regards rescues at sea. Previously, there was a rescue system coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard, which held together the NGOs, the European missions, the Mare Sicuro mission and the Libyan Coast Guard. Today, however, the Libyans act without coordination and moreover in a situation of conflict in the country. This also happens due to the fault of the Italian government, to which Tripoli continues to ask for collaboration, without receiving an answer".
Interior Minister Salvini prefers to gain consensus rather than really solve the problem. After the Sea Watch case, that of the ship Alex is exploding. How do you judge some recent utterances by the Northern League leader, even towards democratic institutions such as judges?
“It scares me a lot. The fact that a minister calls for the arrest of a person via a Facebook live is very serious, and I think we should all condemn it. Arresting or not a person is the prerogative of the judiciary and the law, it is not established on the basis of political opinions. Salvini's ways are worrying ”.
Some members of the Democratic Party have boarded the Sea Watch to express solidarity with the crew. You preferred a more neutral line, but do you agree with Minniti who admitted that Captain Carola did her duty?
“Carola acted on the basis of her conscience and her professionalism, given that she is a professional of the sea. You have saved people: the problem is not you, but who made it possible to reach that stalemate and tension ”.
Granted that the government was wrong, what should it do about Libya instead?
“Relaunching an international action for peace. The first thing to do is to bring the United States back to having an important role in areas of tension in the Mediterranean, in the interest of all of Europe and therefore also of Italy. In recent years, Washington has been disinterested, delegating the matter to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the White House should be convinced to resume a joint initiative with the European Union to stabilize the situation in Libya. Dismantling the refugee camps and creating humanitarian corridors for repatriations is not a feat: there are no more than 6.000-7.000 people in the legal ones. However, the political will to do so is needed. But this is the Government of isolation and closure, so it will hardly do it ”.
Before convincing Trump, it would be good for Italy to regain the leading role it deserves in Europe. A role which, apart from the appointment of Sassoli to the presidency of the European Parliament, the yellow-greens were far from exercising in the last round of nominations. What vote would you give to the Executive?
“Meanwhile, the appointment of David Sassoli as president of the European Parliament was not a victory for the Italian government, but for the Democratic Party and the PSE. Indeed, Lega and 5 Stars voted against and Deputy Prime Minister Salvini did not fail to insult him. My vote for the Government in this delicate game is a flat 2: there was an absolute inability, or unwillingness, to advance an Italian point of view within the European debate. And to think that we had three opportunities: the first with Enrico Letta in the Council, the second with the possible appointment to the Commission of Frans Timmermans, a friend of Italy who speaks our language and who would have been attentive to our needs, and finally the third with Sassoli. Instead of considering him a side in the Europe to come, Salvini attacked him: but doesn't he always say that we need to support 'the Italians first'?
In the end, the Franco-German axis won, with the appointment of two women to head the Commission and the ECB. What do you think of Ursula Von Der Leyen and Christine Lagarde?
“Not only are they two women, but they have a very solid track record. And two considerations come to mind. The first, on how long there is still a long way to go for Italian women in politics: here there is no continuity in positions, women are used and then left to their own devices. None can boast the solidity of the paths of Lagarde and Von Der Leyen, two women who have been repeatedly confirmed at high levels. The second consideration is geopolitical: with these new leaders, Europe can make a change of pace, theoretically positive for Italy as well. I doubt the government will understand this, but having a Frenchwoman at the helm of the ECB after Draghi is significant. France is the country closest to Italy's needs, it needs flexibility like us, it has similar structural problems on the labor market, so much so that Macron copied Renzi's Jobs Act. Von Der Leyen is German but strongly pro-European and with her important dossiers can be resolved such as those on migration and on the common European defence, which has always been a strong point of Italy. In short, we should be happy and willing to collaborate”.
So not every cloud has a silver lining: the appointment of Timmermans to the Commission would perhaps have opened the doors of the ECB to the hawk Weidmann in games of power.
“No, I don't think it would have come to that anyway. French President Macron absolutely wanted the seat in Frankfurt, to restore strength to Europe starting from the stabilization of the Eurozone economy".
What do you think are the priorities of the European agenda and which ones will you fight for as Pd and Pse?
“Investments, taxation, work. And above all reforming the statute of the Council, so as to be able to take decisions even with a simple majority, thus avoiding vetoes and obstructionism by the smaller countries, especially in the East such as the Visegrad bloc, to which part of the Italian government. One of the first things to do, when there will no longer be a blocking minority, is to create a homogeneous tax system and true and fair competition between the member countries".
