15 March 2022
Parent Category: Iniziative (EN) -
Category: Federazione Anna Lindh Italia - Onlus (EN)
The Fondazione Mediterraneo with its "Euromedcities" section and the Anna Lindh Italy Federation with many of their respective members participated in the event for peace 'Cities stand with Ukraine' organised by Eurocities in Florence in Piazza Santa Croce, crowded with flags of peace and Ukraine.
A video with the recently deceased President of the European Parliament David Sassoli talking about Europe and peace, preceded by 17 bells, one for each day of the war in Ukraine, ringing from the basilica of Santa Croce opened the event.
About 20,000 people were in the square.
In his speech, delivered in 2019 in Florence on the occasion of the extraordinary city council meeting on "The legacy of Giorgio La Pira in today's Europe", Sassoli stressed: "When we have reached the end of the European construction, because we are still inside a building site and we have to send it on, we have to write a nice sign 'Work in progress' on it; when at the end the European construction will be finished and many walls will have collapsed and so much nationalist spirit will vanish to bring out how beautiful it is to feel Italian, but without this nationalist spirit that makes you be separate and different and divided from others, what will there be at the end? Europe will be our cities," he added, "and Florence will have an advantage because it has had a wealth of experience and knowledge. And it will know where to take the world and help it to grow. And to live in peace".
"This war was not started by us, this is the cynical and cruel invasion by Russia, this is the war against the Ukrainian people". This was stated by Volodymyr Zelenskyj, President of Ukraine, speaking via video link to the Eurocities event in Florence. "I greet all the friends of Ukraine, of Europe all friends of freedom I know that today you are that over 100 thousand in different squares of different cities we Ukrainians are grateful". Russian armed forces have surrounded Ukrainian cities and want to destroy them. They bomb 24 hours a day, they bomb clinics, churches, squares, which are like yours," Zelensky added. "This war is not only against Ukrainians but against the values that unite us, against our way of life" in the West. "Tell your politicians to close the skies of Ukraine", "from rockets, from Russian planes, from missiles": this is the strong appeal of the president of Ukraine, to the square in Florence. Thunderous and long applause broke out in Piazza Santa Croce as the President of Ukraine spoke from Kiev. The connection had two brief interruptions but was quickly restored. "We must stand together in the European Community, it is important for Ukraine," he said.