The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola was given a very warm welcome by students at the inauguration of the new academic year at the University of Palermo. In her keynote address, President Metsola said that Europe must continue to create jobs and contribute towards security and peace.
Esteemed Rector, Dear regional and city councillors, Dear colleagues, Dear Members, Dear lecturers, Dear students,
It is an honour and privilege to be addressing you here today.
On this occasion, I cannot help but think of Giulia Cecchettin, who was a student like you. She was a brilliant young woman whose life was cut short in the most brutal manner. No words of comfort can ever bring her back. We must do more for women.
Today, thousands of people have come together in an embrace that knows no bounds.
I invite you all to remember her not with a moment’s silence, but with a moment of noise, with applause so loud it can be heard in Padua.
Dear students,
I am among the few Europeans who must travel north to get to Palermo. I grew up on Sicily’s doorstep, soaking up its culture. It is an island laden with meaning. It was here that some of the most important civilisations in history blossomed. Sicily as a whole, and its role as a crucible in which a European identity was forged, is a wonderful metaphor for our Union.
It is a symbol of openness, continuous dialectic and cultural synthesis. This is what makes Sicily, the Mediterranean, Europe, places of creativity, inventiveness and beauty unequalled anywhere in the world.
I was a young girl when the first chink opened in the Iron Curtain. My generation may not have immediately grasped the immensity of that moment, but I clearly remember the unbridled joy of millions of Europeans who were finally free to choose their own destiny. I remember the genuine emotion my parents felt as they watched these events unfold on our small television set at home. There was a tangible sense of hope, of boundless opportunity, in which people believed.
I often find myself reliving that moment when considering the shared values on which our European Union is founded.
Yet perhaps we have lulled ourselves into believing, over the years, that we had everything mapped out. We thought the benefits of liberal democracy were so evident that we stopped telling citizens they had to fight for them.
We were wrong: on 24 February 2022, Russia launched its brutal invasion of independent and sovereign Ukraine.
Why have we supported Ukraine with all our might?
Why have we sent humanitarian, military and financial aid... and why are we continuing to do so?
Why was the European Parliament the first EU Institution to validate Ukraine’s European path and request that it be granted EU candidate status?
Why were we united in adopting several packages of sanctions against Russia? Why, at the same time, did we fight the deluge of disinformation and intimidation emanating from the Kremlin?
Because this has been Europe’s commitment for generations: we are on the side of justice, freedom and the rule of law. Even when this is difficult. In fact, especially when it is.
We must stand firm in our support for Ukraine and in our robust response to Russia’s aggression. It constitutes a threat to our democratic model, our security and our values. That commitment is the backbone of the Europe that we have built.
Nor can we turn a blind eye to the ongoing crisis in Israel, Gaza and the Middle East as a whole. The situation on the ground is horrific, tragic, desperate. I have seen what it is like. I have met the families of those kidnapped by Hamas. I have met people mourning the loss of their families in Gaza. That is why it is important to express our solidarity – to reiterate our condemnation of terrorism, to help ensure the release of the remaining hostages and to continue to seek solutions to ensure more aid reaches those who so desperately need it.
Our hearts must be big enough to care for all the innocent victims and our minds rational enough to achieve a lasting peace based on a two-state solution that gives hope to Israeli families and Palestinian families alike.
Dear friends,
Europe has always been a forward-looking project. It has given successive generations the opportunity to travel, study, work, do research and start businesses in a large area of freedom. Through programmes such as NextGenerationEU, Erasmus Plus, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, the Youth Guarantee, Horizon Europe, InvestEU, the Social Fund, the Regional Funds and the Rural Development Funds we are giving young people in southern Italy the opportunity to put their talents to good use and build their futures.
The European currency and the single market are not an end in themselves. Their success can only be measured by the opportunities they offer to new generations.
As a southern European woman, though, I know what it means to be labelled. And as a southern European woman growing up on an island, I know what it is like to feel overlooked, neglected and unfairly undervalued. It pains me to see so many generations of southern Italians forced to look for better opportunities elsewhere. So when we talk about making our shared areas fairer, this must be the starting point for our work.
Following the pandemic, the European Union developed the NextGenerationEU recovery plan for Europe. Its main focus, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, is a launch pad for the next chapter in Europe’s prosperity.
By modernising and reforming, including by investing in the green and digital transitions, we will emerge stronger and more resilient to future crises.
Italy is the largest beneficiary of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The funds the EU contributes through the Facility, totalling EUR 194.4 billion, constitute an unprecedented opportunity to invest in your future. It is a chance to generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs, improve quality of life and encourage young talent to stay here.
Southern Italy is rich in untapped potential just waiting to be unlocked. It is time to turn the tide. But this will not be possible without access to finance and a modern infrastructure system. Because if we focus on connectivity, if we boost infrastructure, if we start viewing this region as a gateway to economic opportunities, and as a natural point of reference for Mediterranean countries, then southern Italy will thrive. Italy will thrive. And Europe as a whole will thrive too.
My visit today also serves to highlight that Europe must be seen as an opportunity. A chance to find solutions to your problems.
We also need a sustainable solution to the migration issue, and nowhere knows this better than Sicily. It is estimated that more than 650 000 refugees have arrived on your shores in the last decade. On behalf of the European Parliament, I would like to express my gratitude for the generosity and resilience you have shown in bearing this inordinate burden.
Ten years have passed since the shipwreck off Lampedusa, and since then the Mediterranean has become a graveyard for thousands more men, women, children. Migration is the challenge of our generation and in responding to it we need to be fair and humane with those seeking protection, firm with those who have no right to do so and severe with the criminal networks that continue to exploit the vulnerable.
I can assure you that the European Parliament will continue to do its utmost to reach agreement on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum by the end of this parliamentary term.
All too often we talk about rights and values as if they were lofty concepts one reads about in some old book. If the increasing geopolitical instability has taught us anything, it is the importance of showing, on a daily basis, why we need those rights and values and how they can make a difference to people’s lives.
At this point, the names of two former students at this great university spring to mind: Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. They laid down their lives to defend truth and justice. They are my heroes. They are heroes for Italy. They are heroes for Europe.
Corruption eats away at the foundations of all we have built. And it kills – not just judges, but also activists, politicians and journalists. In Malta, corruption killed Daphne Caruana Galizia. In Slovakia, it killed Ján Kuciak, and it has killed many others in Europe and the world. So when I call corruption the biggest enemy of our common values, I am not limiting this to any geographical boundaries. If we want to prevent and combat corruption, we need to turn to Europe when looking for a response.
Last year, the European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats seized over EUR 180 million and made almost 1 000 arrests. Thanks to our anti-money laundering laws, we are stemming unlawful cross-border flows of finance – and hence making our shared area a little bit safer, a little bit better and a bit more just.
Dear Students,
The Europe that I want has to focus on just a few big issues: investing more to create jobs, helping to ensure peace and stability with a genuine foreign, defence and security policy, defending European interests in a globalised world.
Perhaps I am asking too much, but this is what we mean when we talk about a Europe of common values – an area where we can all cooperate and prosper, and all be free to live as we want. A safe place in this world, where our rights are protected and where everyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from, has access to opportunities, and where we can all realise our potential. A Union of hope and possibilities.
Let us not lose sight of this idea. The European Parliament, which is the only institution directly elected by citizens, must play a central role in driving this change. We need voices – your voices – to keep the light burning bright. That is why next year, at the European elections, it is important that you vote and that you convince your friends and family to vote too.
This is your moment.
Thank you. You can read the President's speech in Italian here.