Lupi: 'Meloni spoke as premier, it's right to fully shed light on Ceuta? Schengen's halt is a wake-up call for Europe'

Maurizio Lupi, leader of the Noi Moderati party, defended Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's handling of the 44th anniversary of the Bologna bombing, asserting she spoke appropriately as a prime minister should. Meloni's statement emphasized the need for the state to fully investigate "shadows that still remain" over the 1980 attack, which killed 85 people and injured over 200.

“

Giorgia Meloni said what a prime minister must say: she recalled the terrorist matrix and that the state has the duty to remove the shadows that still remain over that massacre. But from the left came the usual mantra “you must say that the Bologna massacre was of neo-fascist origin.” Here is who instrumentalizes August 2nd.

Lupi criticized what he called the "usual mantra" from the left, which insists Meloni must explicitly label the bombing as neo-fascist. He argued that such demands are politically motivated attempts to instrumentalize the anniversary for internal political gain, rather than a sincere effort to uncover the truth. Lupi pointed to Undersecretary Molteni's participation in the ceremony, who spoke clearly of a fascist origin on behalf of the government, a stance Lupi shares.

Addressing accusations that Meloni lacks courage or is ideologically driven by not mentioning fascism, Lupi stated neither is true. He suggested that the criticism stems from a conditioned reflex to find fault with Meloni's government, particularly on anniversaries like April 25th or August 2nd. He lamented that instead of fostering national unity in memory and democratic struggles, these occasions are exploited for "low internal political interests."

“

There is that conditioned reflex that triggers every April 25th, every August 2nd, since Giorgia Meloni has been in Palazzo Chigi: to look for an opportunity to instrumentalize, to describe the opponent as the absolute evil. And it is a shame that, instead of trying to show a united country in that memory and in the battles for democracy, these anniversaries are taken advantage of for low internal political interests.

Lupi also strongly distanced Meloni and the center-right from the controversial figure Vannacci, whose rhetoric has been seen as far-right. He stated that chasing Vannacci is not a center-right problem and that Meloni's political history has no connection to the ideas promoted by Vannacci or similar figures. Lupi asserted that the government is demonstrating daily that it can lead a large democratic country with a center-right proposal that is entirely separate from "vannaccism or fascist revivals," a point he emphasized given his own non-right-wing roots.

“

Chasing Vannacci is not a center-right problem. Meloni's political history has nothing to do with the ideas that today's Vannacci promotes or that the Vannacci of the moment who will arrive tomorrow will promote: there will always be those who wave slogans rather than seek solutions to problems. Our distance from this style is abysmal.