"I don't know if this is your Europe, but it's certainly not mine.” With these words, the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni she addressed the opposition during her reply to the Chamber, after the discussion on her communications in view of the EU Council. In an already tense Chamber, she chose to quote some passages of the Manifesto of Ventotene, triggering immediate reactions.
“Your idea of Europe is not very clear to me either,” added Meloni, referring to the Saturday demonstration in Piazza del Popolo, where, she said, many had evoked the Ventotene Manifesto. “I hope they have never read it, because the alternative would be frightening,” she continued, declaring herself “happy” to be able to quote verbatim some passages of the text written in 1941 by Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi.
Meloni then read a series of excerpts, "for the benefit of those watching at home and for those who may never have read it":
- “The European revolution, to meet our needs, will have to be socialist”
- “Private property must be abolished, limited, corrected, extended case by case”
- “In revolutionary times, when institutions are not to be administered but created, democratic practice fails miserably.”
- “At a time when the greatest determination and audacity are needed, democrats feel lost, having no spontaneous popular consensus behind them, but only a murky tumult of passions”
- “Democratic political methodology will be a dead weight in the revolutionary crisis”
Chaos in the Chamber, protests and suspension of the session
The Prime Minister's words have sparked a wave of protests from the opposition, amid shouts and whistles, while the centre-right applauded. “Stop, stop,” said Meloni trying to calm the uproar, but the Speaker of the House, Lorenzo Fontana, he was forced to suspend the session to restore order. When the show resumed, the opposition asked the prime minister to apologize, but she instead responded with a further quote:
“The revolutionary party draws its vision and certainty of what must be done not from a prior consecration by the still non-existent popular will, but from the awareness of representing the profound needs of modern society (…). Through this dictatorship of the revolutionary party the new State is formed, and around it the new true democracy.”
At that point, in the Chamber it is chaos broke out: deputies standing, shouts from both sides, mutual accusations. "A serious act has occurred here", he attacked Frederick Fornaro (Pd), accusing Meloni of exploiting the Ventotene Manifesto, a symbol of federal Europe and opposition to nationalism. Also FRAME Grimaldi (Avs) e Alfonso Colucci (M5s) protested, with the latter exclaiming: “Shame, there is no more room for fascism!”
Upon returning to the Chamber, the Prime Minister laughed while listening to the criticism, further unleashing the anger of the opposition. After a conference of group leaders, Fontana invited the deputies to maintain a tone appropriate to the Chamber, underlining the importance of "honoring those who have sacrificed their lives for freedom and justice". A clear reference to Spinelli and Rossi.
The point of maximum conflict came when Matteo Richetti (IV) repeatedly invoked the word “fascism”, arousing the ire of Galeazzo Bignami (FdI), who shouted “Enough!”. At that point, the session was suspended again, with parliamentarians from both sides standing and screaming, in a climate of total chaos.
