Mattarella lauds 'open' Europe

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 4 - President Sergio Mattarella on Monday lauded the openness of the European Union in a speech accepting an honorary degree in Parma and stressed that "the EU homeland is also for those who flee slavery".
    Mattarella cited French philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin in underscoring the importance of the four cornerstones of the EU: "liberty and equality, democracy and solidarity".
    He said "an open Europe is the only discipline possible".
    He also cited unification hero Giuseppe Mazzini in saying that the European homeland with its universities can be a landing stage for those who want to flee slavery through study and exchanges with teachers.
    Mattarella said there has been a "paradigm shift and a quality leap in Europe, and the post-COVID recovery plan must become the backbone of a new, more solidarity-based and fairer integration of the continent". (ANSA).