• Mattarella: "June 2 with pain, but towards a new beginning. Proud of this country"

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02 June 2020 The head of state Sergio Mattarella went to the Altare della Patria to lay a wreath on the occasion of June 2. Wearing the now inseparable mask, the President of the Republic listened to the execution of the Italian Anthem, then accompanied by the Presidents of the Chambers Elisabetta Casellati and Roberto Fico, by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and by the President of the Constitutional Court Marta Cartabia, he climbed the staircase of the Altare della Patria and laid the crown of flowers on the chapel of the Unknown Soldier. Waiting for him on the sides of the monument, the military leaders and a representation of the health professions that have personally fought the coronavirus epidemic. Upon his arrival Mattarella was greeted in Piazza Venezia by the applause of the people waiting for the ceremony. 

# 2june #FestaDellaRepubblica the President #Mattarella lays a laurel wreath at the Altare della Patria pic.twitter.com/HgApyoBR8x

- Quirinale (@Quirinale) June 2, 2020

The message to the prefects
June 2 is a day to reflect "on the republican founding values". This is what President Sergio Mattarella hopes for on June 2 in a message to the Italian prefects. "On the anniversary of the founding of the Republic I extend to you - and, through you, to the local administrators and all those who hold public functions - the most sincere wishes that this date will be an occasion for a renewed reflection on the republican founding values", Mattarella writes. "The size and severity of the crisis, the impact it has had on every aspect of daily life, the pain that has pervaded the affected communities, have required everyone to make an extraordinary effort, even emotionally. The exceptional nature of the situation has led to difficulties never experienced in the history of the Republic, placing a continuous demand for unity, responsibility and cohesion at all levels of government ".

In a passage, the President of the Republic also underlined the difficulties experienced by the youngest. "The need to curb the spread of the virus has imposed limitations on sociality, sacrificing affectivity and family ties; the youngest have been temporarily deprived of the places where the civic sense of a community is built and strengthened, first of all the school and sport; distances and mistrust have increased the situations of solitude and marginality of the weakest people, exposed to new forms of poverty, deprivation and discrimination, if not hateful exploitation ".

Then Mattarella recalled: "The crisis has not ended and both institutions and citizens will still have to deal with its consequences and the traumas produced even in the most intimate dimensions of people's lives".

The visit to Codogno
The arrival of the head of state is expected mid-morning. Mattarella will participate in a "confidential" meeting in town with representatives of the city, with the president of the Lombardy region Attilio Fontana, the prefect of Lodi Marcello Cardona and the bishop of Lodi Monsignor Maurizio Malvestiti. The meeting will be attended by a representative of the Civil Protection and the Red Cross of Codogno. The head of state will also stop at the cemetery to pay homage to the victims of Covid-19.