After a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano stated that he had “reiterated the truth of my statements contained in a letter sent this morning to the newspaper La Stampa.
The Culture Minister claims “never a euro of the ministry, not even for a coffee, was spent on trips and stays” for influencer and fashion entrepreneur Maria Rosaria Boccia. He also insisted that Boccia “never had access to documents of a reserved nature” regarding the organisation of the G7 Culture summit.
Sangiuliano is at the centre of a controversy over Boccia’s claims that she was appointed as his advisor for major events, including the G7 culture summit. There are also reports that she was involved in email exchanges containing sensitive information about the meeting, despite allegedly lacking security clearance.
However, in an Instagram story, which she later deleted, Boccia shared an audio recording of a phone call with Antonio Mazza, a manager at the Ministry of Culture. In the recording, Mazza discusses contacts already made with a team member directly reporting to the minister, Alessandro Ferrari. She also revealed an email exchange in which these individuals provided her with contact details “for any need related to her appointment as Advisor to the Minister for Major Events.”
Additionally, there was an email from the minister’s head of secretariat sending her boarding passes for herself, the minister, and a third person. Another email contained the programme, including times, for the ceremony of the delivery of the keys to the city of Pompeii.
The mystery deepens over what access Sangiuliano actually gave Boccia and who funded her trips.
