Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said
in a long interview with Der Spiegel Friday that his main
concern was finding a solution to the economic crisis caused by
the coronavirus at the EU level and was flexible about what form
that took.
"Coronabonds? I don't care how we call the instruments to
combat the crisis," he said.
"We must find the best instrument and react together to the
worsening of the economic crisis.
"We need all the strength of the EU and the guarantees of
European States to make Europe's future safe.
"At the moment we must first of all guarantee liquidity to
our firms, that jobs remain assured and that wages are
guaranteed, I take the opportunity to thanks Germany for taking
in Italian patients but no one is guilty if we are faced with a
pandemic and if we have 13,000 deaths.
"Italy now expects a joint response to this pain, that is
touching everyone, because the situation is heavy also in
Germany, France and Spain".
Di Maio said Italy's acceptance of aid from countries
including Russia and China would not lead to new geopolitical
alliances.
"China helped us a lot in the first phase" of the
coronavirus emergency but "also many other countries supported
us, as well as the Russians, for example Albania, Cuba and
Poland. Protective equipment arrived from France, Germany is
welcoming Italian patients and American President Trump wants to
support us with 100 million dollars," he said.
"Italy has always been a bridge between the East and West,
but we remain in the Euro-Atlantic Alliance".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
