The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, released the following communiqué:
«The confirmed news of the death of our fellow-citizens increases our grief for the Nice massacre. I express my closeness and deep sympathy to the families of Maria Grazia Ascoli, Mario Casati, Angelo D'Agostino, Carla Gaveglio, Nicolas Leslie and Gianna Muset, whose innocent blood has been spilled by a violent and insane hand armed with intolerance and fanaticism.
Europe is paying a very high price in this escalation of global terror which knows no boundaries and has declared a global war on the principles of liberty, democracy, dialogue, tolerance and friendship among the populations of the world.
While mourning our dead and joining in the grief for all the victims of terrorism, we forcefully reaffirm that we will not bend before the obscurantist violence of Islamic fundamentalism or before any other form of terrorism.
Hatred and brutal violence, which does not even stop before children, drive us to further defend our values and to reject all forms of violence».
Rome, 19 July 2016
