Premier Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed her government’s commitment to fighting organised crime on Friday, Italy’s National Day of Remembrance for Mafia Victims. President Sergio Mattarella said a cohesive society can combat all mafias.
“Italy and its institutions bow before the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives at the hands of organised crime. Honest citizens, servants of the State, innocent people who have fallen under the cowardly blows of a spineless, ruthless yoke,” Meloni said on social media.
“The mafias are a declared enemy of our democracy, an offence to the dignity of the nation.
“For this reason, we reiterate our condemnation of every type of mafia and commit ourselves to fighting it every day with absolute determination and firmness.”
President Sergio Mattarella said Italy must never resign itself to living under the scourge of organised crime.
“The names of mafia victims are part of our collective memory, and it is to them that, first of all, we renew our commitment to fight the mafias, starting from the public institutions to the places of everyday life, overcoming resignation and indifference, which are the allies of those who are violent and who are bullies,” Mattarella said.
“The mafia can be defeated. It depends on us: many shining examples confirm this.
“March 21 is a solemn day of remembrance and civil commitment to affirm values that are essential to the health of our community.
“The daily commitment to practice legality, to fight against all mafias, against the criminal syndicates that generate violence and oppression, against grey areas of complicity that favour their business and their spread, involves the work of all citizens who wish to live in a cohesive society that respects everyone’s rights.”
There have been a number of organised crime arrests in recent months.
