English
Unfortunately, this year we cannot celebrate the National Holiday, when 74 years have passed since the referendum that marked the birth of the Italian Republic.
The effects of the Covid-19 virus are devastating and, given the loss of life and damage to the world's economies, we would certainly not have the necessary disposition - or the audacity - to celebrate, we could not do so even while urging following the social distancing measures, which prevent group meetings.
As of tomorrow, Italy is entering a new stage in the fight against the epidemic. This is not yet the final victory: the virus has not yet been defeated, but the measures taken and the sacrifices made by the population show encouraging results. We must continue to pay the utmost attention to and follow the guidelines of governments in each country to prevent reocurrence, but it is certainly not too early to think - as we do concretely - about the future, in terms that can exceed 14 days of incubation that have so far marked our lives.
In these terrible months we learned a lot: we have gauged our weaknesses and weighed our strength; we have understood - as never before in the recent past - the value of solidarity and the concept of subsidiarity.
As a nation, Italy has found the strength to grit its teeth and move on. We have taken the most rigorous measures, aware that we are not an isolated entity, but a responsible member of a society that, both continental and global, knows no borders capable of stopping an invisible and cunning enemy.
In fact, the term "lockdown", is partly misleading: in dealing with the crisis, collaboration and solidarity have played a vital role, as much as isolation.
The support and closeness of our partners in the most difficult moments have been fundamental. Concrete gestures, such as the sending by Romania of a medical team to Italy, or symbolic ones, such as the lighting of the Cotroceni Palace in the colors of the Italian flag, have forever earned our remembrance and gratitude.
Along with efforts to limit infection, it has also been vital to ensure the operability of trading, in a world where no one is autonomous anymore. Only international coordination has managed to prevent the crash of production systems and even of national societies: interconnection has become so strong that no nation, no matter how strong, can survive without the others. And in this sector we have always found in our Romanian friends harmony and collaboration as well as maximum availability to discuss and agree on measures to ensure essential trades.
The closeness between our countries and the identical views shared in the crisis are the best prediction for the future. A future that, for the most part, still needs to be drawn and that must be thought out, obligatorily, based on the lessons learned in the state of emergency.
Despite the isolation, no country has fallen into autarky, because that is simply no longer possible, if it ever was. This is a certain thing, which cannot be hidden and underestimated: international collaboration is simply a vital necessity; it can be criticized when it comes to its efficiency, the difficulty that complex mechanisms and organizations have when it comes to adapting to change and developing responses, but criticism must lead to attempts to improve parameters and mechanisms, because isolation cannot be a response, even during a "lockdown".
We have also learned that solidarity is certainly not a one-way street, but no simple two-way street either. Rather, it is a ring road, a circle that unites and brings together all the members of an integrated society. Just like in the best of Christian parables, there is no reciprocity, no "do ut des": it is a circuit, in which everyone participates without any ulterior motive, other than the awareness that they are part of a group and that, therefore, the interest of one member is the interest of all.
My hope and my wish for all, on this day full of history and significance for Italy and for Italians, is for this awareness to guide our actions today, when we are all building a "post-Covid" future.
Long live Romania, long live Italy!
Euro
Dolar SUA
Franc elveţian
Liră sterlină
Gram de aur
