Introductory remarks by EP President Martin Schulz on the occasion of the plenary address of the Italian President Sergio Mattarella

Met dank overgenomen van Voorzitter Europees Parlement (EP-voorzitter) i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 25 november 2015.

Dear President Mattarella,

Thank you for your presence here today. Your personal history shows a constant and deep commitment to the preservation and strengthening of the European project. The European institutions have been part of your first visit abroad as President of the Republic and in all your speeches in Italy and abroad, she always remembers not only the need of the European project for Italy, but also the roots and strength of the European vocation of his country.

Today you will address a Parliament and a European Union i that is still badly shaken by the attacks and the terrorist threat - a terror that shocked us all, that targeted our Europe, our values and our youth.

Italy showed great unity and solidarity with the French people. And Italy itself lost an exemplary citizen. Yesterday you were in Venice, in Piazza San Marco for the funeral of Valeria Solesin, the young researcher at the Sorbonne, who was killed by terrorists at the Bataclan. Her smile, her face, her commitment to volunteering, her research and the encouragement of the participation of women in the labour market will remain her indelible heritage and show the abyss that divides Valeria Solesin's Europe from the murderous madness of jihadist terror. The whole of Europe gathers around the family of Valeria Solesin and of all the victims of terror.

Europe is threatened by crises and global problems. It must rise to the challenges it is confronted with. As you yourself recalled speaking to MEPs in Italy: "The choice is between a Europe that addresses the global phenomena, governing them, and a Europe that suffers the events without being able to guide them."

Italy has always been on the side of answers. It has been an engine and inspirer of European integration, even when the rest of Europe was not yet ready to follow, from economic governance policies to a common approach to immigration.

Dear President, thank you for being here today and have the floor.