Sassoli, the commemoration in Strasbourg: “He made a difference”

“Destiny wanted” that David Sassoli was president of the European Parliament “in a difficult moment”, but he fulfilled his mandate by “making courageous decisions”, such as keeping the Parliament open during the first months of the pandemic. He was “respected and appreciated for his blunt manner, for his unwavering determination to make this world a better place.” Sassoli “made the difference, he left a mark”. Thus the interim president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, remembering the recently deceased president in Strasbourg during the memorial ceremony. Read also The Prime Minister Mario Draghi was also present, accompanied by the Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and the Undersecretary for European Affairs Vincenzo Amendola. Draghi, welcomed by Metsola, wrote in the book prepared by the Protocol to remember the President of Parliament, before the French President Emmanuel Macron and the President of the European Council Charles Michel. Von der Leyen David Sassoli “was never satisfied with Europe as it is today. He wanted Europe to become more, to get closer to the dreams of its founders. David was a man of vision. A dreamer. And a builder”, said the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in the speech she should have made tonight in Strasbourg, if she had not had to return to Brussels due to a contact with a positive at Sars-CoV-2. Von der Leyen in his speech underlined the ideal bond that Sassoli had with the White Rose, die Weisse Rose, an anti-Nazi student movement founded in Munich by the brothers Sophie and Hans Scholl, who were denounced, arrested and killed by beheading. “We are the children and grandchildren of the White Rose”, said the president, recalling that Sassoli “believed that our union of European nations was the answer to centuries of war on our continent. He believed in our responsibility to be faithful to our history” The president then recalled the visit she made with Sassoli to the concentration camp of Fossoli, a fraction of Carpi, in the Modena area, the main concentration and transit camp during the RSI for the sending of prisoners, many of them Jews, to the camps beyond the Alps, mainly Auschwitz. “When the trumpets began to sound the ‘silence’, to commemorate the victims, at the most solemn moment of the celebration, David broke the protocol and took my hand. A simple gesture of unity, worth more than a million words “, concludes von der Leyen. Macron When it came to addressing the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sassoli, “despite the answers and grumbling, brought out a majority that laid the foundations for a common debt”, with Next Generation Eu, underlined the president. French Emmanuel Macron, calling him a “European of good will”.

Michel “I remember my first meeting with David Sassoli. I remember his relaxed, generous attitude and his smiling face. The smile was his trademark. That smile spoke of his convictions”. Thus the president of the European Council, Charles Michel. Read David Sassoli’s “smile” “was a special gift”, which conveyed “strength and serenity. It was an innate gift, but it was above all a state of mind. It was the smile of welcome, the smile of understanding”. Thus the secretary of the Pd Enrico Letta in Strasbourg the president of the Parliament, recently passed away. “In 2020, when many institutions around the world closed”, David Sassoli “chose to keep the European Parliament open. Today, we take that choice for granted. But at the time it was a contested, divisive and courageous decision,” he said. Letta underlined, adding: “It was not just a symbolic gesture, but a choice of substance. Just imagine what Europe’s response to the pandemic would have been, if Europe had remained in lockdown. It would have been very different, I’m sure” .