Madam Director-General,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
I too am very pleased to take the floor at this 70th anniversary of CERN, a real driver of scientific progress and an example of how the universal language of science means openness and the overcoming of barriers.
Something that a group of scientists in the post-war years clearly had in mind when they promoted the establishment of CERN, which, over time, has become not only a research hub of excellence, but also a network that brings together ten thousand researchers and hundreds of universities from across the world.
For Europe – which had just been torn apart by the war and where science had been bent to serve causes against mankind – it was a gaze into the future, it meant gambling on hope.
In the preliminary drafting of the laboratory by-laws, the founding fathers wanted to point out that none of the research conducted at CERN could be driven by military purposes and that all results would be freely accessible to all.
Since then, CERN has continued to be a venue where scientists and researchers from all over the world can gather, exchange thoughts and grow. They come here to study and train, knowing that cooperation means mutual enrichment.
It has pained us to witness the Russian Federation’s decision to attack Ukraine, thereby bringing war to the heart of Europe again: something that has severely impacted the sphere of scientific cooperation too.
The European Centre for Nuclear Research has always testified the will to build a common future that is not compatible with anyone who wishes to put weapons before dialogue and the principles of the law.
Building peace through science is the vocation of CERN, a world benchmark in terms of elementary particle research.
It has achieved extraordinary results, which help us better understand the world and its functioning while also being crucial for our progress and wellbeing – suffice it to think about the applications in sectors such as medicine.
Most of the credit for this successful story clearly goes to the community of researchers that operate in these laboratories on a daily basis.
And the Italian Republic has staunchly contributed to this story.
Some great Italian physicists have been at CERN’s helm, from Edoardo Amaldi, to Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia and Luciano Maiani.
I now turn to you, Madam Director, the first woman to hold this delicate office and responsibility.
Italian research centres have benefited from working with CERN and I am sure that this dialogue will continue to foster great mutual enrichment in the scientific sphere and in areas of great specialisation, such as superconducting magnets and new particle acceleration techniques.
Other signs of Italy’s contribution are to be seen in these venues. Thanks to Renzo Piano, architectural beauty here defines the encounter between science and society.
Madam Director,
while expressing my appreciation for the results that the European Centre for Nuclear Research has attained during its first 70 years, I would like to point out that CERN has been a virtuous example of European cooperation in a global reality marked – including the scientific sector – by powers whose extent is far greater than our national horizons.
Progress requires a shared commitment, so that the Centre may continue to fulfil its role of excellence, thus contributing to European leadership in a key sector for the continent’s strategic autonomy, including through daring choices, such as the one concerning the new major project, which has been designed here, crucial for retaining a scientific leadership that has many positive consequences for our fellow citizens.
To all of you at CERN, to the scientists who are a living part of it, I sincerely wish a shining future.
You are accelerators yourselves.
Accelerators of scientific progress, of the search for a common good that looks beyond the narrow limits of local interests, projected towards the acknowledgement of mankind’s shared destiny.
