Steinmeier to Mattarella: "It was the right time to hug, but you can't"

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September 17, 2020 '' We haven't seen each other for many months.

It was the right time to hug, but you can't ''.

The president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said this to the president of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who welcomed him in Milan, at Palazzo Reale.

'' I'm very happy, even if you can't see it, '' Steinmeier joked, his face covered by the mask.

"We are extremely happy to be here," he added.

The German president, on an official visit to Italy, was greeted with military honors and the German and Italian national anthem.

The two Heads of State, after receiving military honors in Piazzetta Reale, will have an interview and, subsequently, will listen to the testimonies of some of the former Italian patients of Covid-19 hosted in recent months in German health facilities and medical staff.

Around 11.40 am they will then meet some of the mayors of the twinning network between Italian and German cities.

At 12.35 pm, the statements to the press by the two heads of state are scheduled.

In the afternoon, at 4 pm, Mattarella and Steimeier will participate in an economic panel at Hangar Bicocca on the recovery after Covid-19 which will see the interventions of professors Marco Fortis, Alberto Mantovani, Francesca Bria and Enel CEO Francesco Starace.

At the end of the Milanese visit of the German president, the two presidents will be at the Teatro alla Scala for a concert, with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Maestro Riccardo Chailly.