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POLITICS

Italy swears in its new pro-European coalition government

President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday swore in Italy's new pro-European government, heralding a fresh start for the eurozone's third-largest economy as the right-wing falls from power.

Italy swears in its new pro-European coalition government
Italy's new government was sworn in at the presidential palace in Rome on Thursday. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and his ministers from the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and centre-left Democratic Party (PD) raised their right hands as they took the oath in the 16th century presidential palace in Rome.

“We're ready to give our utmost for the country,” M5S head Luigi Di Maio, the new foreign minister, said.


Luigi Di Maio (L) shakes hands with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as he is sworn in as foreign minister. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

The coalition still faces a vote in parliament, set to take place in the lower house on Monday and the upper house on Tuesday.

“Good luck to the new government and its ministers. Let's change Italy!” PD head Nicola Zingaretti said.

Younger, more southern and pro-EU

First on the cabinet's to-do list is the 2020 budget, which has to be submitted to parliament by the end of September, and then to Brussels by October 15th.

The pick of the PD's Brussels-savvy Roberto Gualtieri as finance minister was hailed as “extremely positive, especially for the relationship with the EU” by Lorenzo Codogno, former chief economist at the Italian Treasury Department.

READ ALSO: Four key economic challenges facing Italy's new government

The previous coalition between the M5S and Matteo Salvini's anti-immigrant League had fought bitterly with the European Commission over its big-spending budget.

The markets welcomed the new cabinet, with Milan's FTSE Mib stock market up 0.5 percent after the swearing-in ceremony.

It is the youngest ever in Italy's post-war history — the average age being 47 years old — and has more ministers from the country's disadvantaged south than the wealthy north.

READ ALSO: Here is Italy's new cabinet in full


Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

'We'll oppose it'

Of the 21 ministers, nine hail from the PD, 10 from the M5S, one from the small left-wing Free and Equals party, and one has no affiliation with any political party — the new interior minister.

Luciana Lamorgese, a former Milan security chief, takes over from firebrand Salvini, the strongman who pulled the League from the previous coalition last month, collapsing the government. The social media wizard had hoped to send Italy straight to the polls to take advantage of his soaring popularity figures.

On Thursday he predicted the new government “won't last long”.

READ ALSO: How Matteo Salvini lost his gamble to become Italy's PM – for now

“We'll oppose it in parliament, in the town halls, in the town squares, and then finally we'll vote, and we'll win,” he said. The League head was reported to have refused to be in place at the interior ministry to hand over the keys to Lamorgese.

The new interior minister “is the anti-Salvini, mediatically-speaking,” said the Repubblica daily. “She has no social networks. She won't ever be seen doing live Facebook videos from the rooftop of the interior ministry.”

Lamorgese will, however, be tasked with handling Italy's divisive immigration issue, a subject that won Salvini mass votes.

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TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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