Quirinale Palace, 31/12/2024 (II mandato)
Dear fellow citizens,
this traditional date of our encounter enables me to address my heartfelt wishes to all of you: those of you who are in Italy and the Italians abroad.
As every New Year’s Eve, we look forward to the new time to come, which we hope will be better.
It is a time in which we seek serenity by strengthening our relationships within our communities, our families, our friendships. We express our wishes to them and they to us. It is not only a ritual; it is evidence of our most authentic nature, what urges us to relate to others.
We do it, and we need to do it all the more when going through difficult moments. When the thousands of civilian victims of ongoing wars tragically trouble our conscience.
On Christmas night, news was released of a newborn girl only a few days old freezing to death in Gaza.
Again on Christmas night, fierce Russian air strikes targeted the power plants of Ukrainian cities, throwing the civilian population into the dark and cold.
The innocents abducted by Hamas and still held hostage today live their second New Year in inhuman conditions.
These barbaric forms do not even spare Christmas and our most deeply cherished festivities.
Yet, peace now cries out its urgency as never before.
It is the peace that our Constitution indicates as a steadfast goal and that Italy has always pursued, including during this year’s important presidency of the G7. It is the peace of which the European Union is the historic expression.
It is the peace that does not mean bending to the prevarication of those who attack other Countries with arms but rather the peace of respecting human rights, the peace of the right of all peoples to liberty and dignity.
Because this is what is right. And, should this not be sufficient reason, because it is the only guarantee of real peace, avoiding other European Countries from being attacked.
Thus, this is everybody’s first wish: for the New Year to bring real peace worldwide.
In these hours I interpret everybody’s anguish for the imprisonment of Cecilia Sala. We express our closeness to her and look forward to seeing her back in Italy as soon as possible.
What is going on once again highlights the value of the freedom of the press. A large number of journalists risk their lives to document the events occurring in the deplorable wars along the borders of Europe, in the Middle East and elsewhere. They often pay a high price for the service they render to the community.
On Christmas night Pope Francis – to whom I convey my wishes full of gratefulness – opened the Jubilee Year, echoing the call for hope throughout the world.
Tonight, the hours mark a future of hope in the year lying ahead. It is up to us to be able to convert it into reality.
What does it tangibly mean to nurture hope at a time marked not only by war but also by unbalances and conflicts?
It is necessary to redirect our coexistence and our way of living together.
In this period, it seems that the world is subjected to an alarming centrifugal force, capable of dividing, distancing and radicalizing conflicting positions.
Public opinions are torn apart.
Deep divisions rip through our societies.
The situation in which we live unveils contradictions that generate confusion and dismay and even a sense of powerlessness.
At global level, the wealth of a very restricted few increases exponentially while poverty spreads among the majority.
The growth in military expenditure triggered by Russia’s attack against Ukraine – which also compels us to pay for our own defence – this year hit a record of 2.44 trillion Dollars. It is eight times more than the amount allocated at the recent COP 29 Conference in Baku to fight against climate change, which is a vital necessity for humanity. What a disheartening disproportion.
Upsides and downsides also concern this Italy of ours.
Science, research, and new technologies open opportunities that were unimaginable up to a short time ago in the treatment of diseases considered to be unhealable. At the same time, there are long waiting lists to take tests that, if timely, are lifesaving. Many people have to go without treatment and medicines because they lack the necessary resources.
Employment rates are encouraging although there are still areas where employment is insecure, salaries are low and workers are on unemployment benefits.
Italy’s exports record positive trends and the same goes for tourism. It is a sign that the Country exercises a force of attraction that stretches beyond its natural beauties, its heritage cities, and its culture.
This comforting fact clashes with the phenomenon of youths who find work abroad because they have no other alternative, often despite having a university education.
There is a mismatch in the services available in the North and in the South. The risk of land-locked and mountainous areas being abandoned still exists.
Our task is to bridge these gaps and to assure full protection of people’s rights.
Climate change decisively affects the weather patterns that we are subjected to in Italy: we have repeated proof of this. Flooding can no longer be considered to be an extraordinary event. It occurs frequently and must therefore be prevented with foresight, by removing the conditions that provoke catastrophes.
Special attention should also be focused on the phenomenon of violence. It affects the whole world, but it becomes even more alarming when it involves our youths.
Bullyism, riots, the use of weapons. There is a worrying spread in the consumption of alcohol and drugs – old and new – also in the early teens. These behaviours are unfortunately enhanced through the Internet, which often proposes models inspired by abuse, easy success and binging.
Youths are our Country’s greatest resource. We can count on their enthusiasm, their creative force, the generosity that they often manifest. It is our duty to heed their malaise and to tangibly meet their needs and aspirations.
Job insecurity and a sentiment of uncertainty affect young people and must be tackled with great commitment also because they conceal one of the most relevant causes of the current drop in birth rates.
An extraordinary potential thus intertwines with weak points that need to be addressed. Let us commit to a common hope capable of confidently leading us towards the future.
The Institute of the Italian Encyclopaedia Treccani has chosen “respect” as the word of the year.
Respect for others is the first step towards a more welcoming, reassuring and humane society. The first step on the way to dialogue, cooperation, solidarity, all elements on which our civilization is founded.
Respect for life, and the safety of workers. The latest tragedy occurred a few days ago in Calenzano: five people died. Words of outrage are no longer sufficient: we must act, with responsibility and severity. Deadly accidents – with no exceptions – can and must be prevented.
Respect for human dignity and individual rights, including those of people in prison. The large number of suicides is an indication of inadmissible conditions.
It is our duty to comply with the Constitution which outlines essential norms regarding detention in prison. Overcrowding violates them and also makes the working conditions of prison personnel inacceptable.
Detainees must be able to breathe a different air from the one that led them to unlawfulness and crime. This is the commitment made by generous professionals who deserve to be supported.
The end of the year is also a time to take stock of the situation. I have detected positive and encouraging values and behaviours in the faces, acts, and reports of many of our fellow citizens.
I found them in the courage of those who were able to convert their grief – caused by a life event – into a mission in favour of others.
I read them in the words of Sammy Basso, which teach people to live a full life, overcoming all difficulties.
They are found in the noise made by young girls and boys who have no intention of keeping silent before the scandal of femicides.
We have been dramatically overwhelmed by the horror of the inacceptable fate of Giulia Cecchettin and, like her, of many other women killed by the barbaric acts of men who do not respect women’s freedom and dignity and who, in actual fact, do not even respect themselves.
We no longer want to be forced to speak of women as victims. We wish and must speak of their energy, their work, their being key players.
I have referred to a few examples of people who have chosen to act for the common good because it is precisely this intertwining of feelings, values, and ideals that keeps our communities together and converts into reality the collective hope that we want to build on together.
It is this very storyline that will enable us to avoid the divides that rip across our societies producing a desert of relationships, a world inhabited only by a multitude of solitudes.
We are all called upon to act, shunning our egoism, resignation or indifference.
In the everyday experience of so many of our fellow citizens we detect the feeling of a lively and thriving idea of Homeland
I was recently struck by the enthusiasm shown by our Navy cadets onboard LHD Trieste when starting to render their service to Italy and its constitutional values. The same applies, as I speak, to many of our military personnel in different operating theatres. To them allow me to renew the gratitude of the Republic.
Patriotism is also that of doctors in emergency rooms who render their service in difficult and at times risky conditions. It is that of our teachers who passionately devote their lives to educating young people. That of entrepreneurs with social responsibility and care for safety measures. Of those who work professionally and conscientiously. Of those who study and prepare for the responsibilities soon to be shouldered. Of those who engage in volunteer work. Of the elders, who provide support to their families.
Patriotism is that of those who, having their origins in other Countries, love Italy and embrace its constitutional values and laws and fully comply with them in their everyday lives and who, through their work and sensitivity, become active members and contribute to enriching our communities. It is fundamentally important to put in place integration and mutual understanding processes because also on this depends the future of our societies.
Security remains a concern for citizens and the victims of offenders must be assured utmost support.
The CENSIS statistical report drafted on the data provided by the Ministry of the Interior shows that, from 2013 to 2024, significant results were achieved in terms of prevention, with a steep decline in voluntary manslaughters, robberies and home burglaries.
We are grateful to Law Enforcers, the bulwark of the freedom of citizens, for their decisive contribution to the security in which our Country lives.
We see new phenomena looming, starting with fraud against the elderly, the abuse of children online, street violence, and the crimes that Law Enforcers are currently strongly engaged in fighting.
I would like to address a greeting to the sportsmen and sportswomen in this Olympic and Paralympic year. I remember the nights in Paris and the pride of our athletes around our flag. I am grateful to them for their successes and even more for the authentic sporting spirit shown in their participatory experience: a beautiful example that goes well beyond the confines of sport.
In 2025 we are due to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Liberation.
It is the foundation of the Republic and the premise of the Constitution that has enabled Italy to string together its history and its unity.
It is an important event as it englobes all reference to being liberated from everything impeding liberty, democracy, dedication to Italy, the dignity of all, employment, and justice.
These are the values that inspire the life of our Country, the expectations of people and of our communities. They are expressed and configured through the citizens’ broad participation in elections which makes democracy stronger; through the positive mediation of Institutions towards the achievement of the common good, the good of the Republic. This is the lofty task vested in the world of politics.
We are called to consolidate and bring forward the reasons set forth in the Constitution as the basis for our national community. It is an undertaking that is handed down from one generation to the next.
Because hope cannot merely translate into waiting idly.
Hope lies in us, our commitment, our freedom, our decisions.
Happy New Year to all!
