Italian political parties have said
in unison that a Russian foreign ministry official who
threatened Italy with "irreversible consequences" if it upped
sanctions due to the Ukraine war should be stripped of the
honorific titles Rome has conferred on him.
Alexei Paramonov, director of the ministry's European
department, was named a Knight of the Order of Merit of the
Italian Republic in 2018 and a Commander of the Order of the
Star of Italy in 2020.
Foreign undersecretary Benedetto Della Vedova of the More Europe
party said he would ask Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio to add
Paramonov's name to the list of Russians who are set to have
their Italian titles revoked.
The foreign ministry is only responsible for revoking the title
of Knight, while the premier's office is responsible for
revoking the title of Commander.
The centre-left Democratic Party (PD), the centrist Italia Viva
(IV) party and others called for the two honours to be revoked.
Paramonov's threat caused outrage in Italy and was described as
"unacceptable" by Premier Mario Draghi.
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