Good morning everyone.

My thanks go to Prime Minister Morawiecki, I am very pleased to be back here in Warsaw just a few months after my last visit. 

Poland is the only European nation that I have visited twice since coming to office and I think this tells you everything about the spirit, value and depth of our bilateral relationship.

As Prime Minister Morawiecki said, with regard to almost all, or all, of the issues we find ourselves dealing with at European Council level, we really just need to glance at each other to know that our position will be a shared position on many matters that involve us at this time of crisis, when we must succeed in living up to history, which is calling us. 

Clearly, starting with the issue of Ukraine, as you know, Italy’s position and Poland’s position are basically identical: we stand with Ukraine, we support the defence of the freedom of a people who are amazing the world to defend that freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity against an aggression that we cannot accept and that we will do all we can to impede. This means we will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as necessary, providing comprehensive support. 
The same goes for the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, in relation to which we are also in agreement, in perfect agreement, with Poland about the need for real security guarantees for Ukraine, also because offering Ukraine real security guarantees is also the essential condition for achieving a just and lasting peace tomorrow.
However, the conflict of course brings with it a domino effect of consequences that also Europe must have the ability to weigh up and evaluate, and must be able to offer effective responses to.

I am thinking of the issue of strategic autonomy. We woke up when first the pandemic and then the war came, realising that Europe no longer controlled a large part of its key supply chains and that it had not worked enough on this to ensure its independence, its autonomy, its ability to be the master of its own destiny.
Today, the issue of competitiveness, the issue of European industry, the issue of strategic autonomy, also with regard to defence, must become key again and, when they do, rules will of course also be needed that are suitable for that strategic choice.

The revision of our economic governance, the Stability and Growth Pact, is coming up, and in our view this obviously has to above all support growth, because if growth is not supported, it becomes impossible to also guarantee stability, especially for those nations with higher levels of debt. When discussing the economic governance of the European Union, the strategic choices that Europe makes must also be taken into account. 
If Europe makes the strategic choice of the green transition, if it makes the strategic choice of the digital transition, if it makes the strategic choice of strengthening defence [capabilities], then it must take the value of the investments that nations are making to reach such major objectives into consideration as part of its governance. This is another matter on which Italy and Poland are absolutely on the same page, as indeed is the case with regard to flexibility in using existing funds, which is needed to balance out the choices that have been made regarding the relaxing of State aid rules, without creating imbalances in the domestic market. This is another initiative and issue that Italy has raised at the European Council and in relation to which we have always been met with openness from Prime Minister Morawiecki, as is also the case for the issue of environmental sustainability, the energy transition.
We are conservatives and so, for us, defending the environment is the primary issue, but environmental sustainability must go hand in hand with social and economic sustainability and with the strengthening of our industrial capacity. We are also in agreement on this viewpoint and have pursued, indeed are pursuing, joint initiatives. 

Then there is migration, of course, which is an issue that has been discussed a lot over the last few days and weeks; also in this regard, I believe our position is substantially the same. We want to stop illegal migration. As long as Europe thinks it can solve the problem by discussing how to manage illegal migration once it has arrived onto European territory, then we will never find a real solution, because our nations’ interests are different, also simply for geographical reasons. 

What we all can and must work on and what brings together the interests of all Member States is stopping illegal migration before it gets here, with the completely different approach of working with Africa, of non-predatory cooperation, also supporting those nations that, in many cases, are themselves victims of human trafficking, of the traffickers, of the mafia of the third millennium. Myself, Mateusz Morawiecki and many others have worked together on this and, as I have already said and shall say again, I perfectly understand Poland’s position regarding the migration and asylum pact. I understand the difficulty in accepting relocation mechanisms, all the more so for nations that are most bearing the weight of Ukrainian refugees, often without seeing enough recognition from Europe for the sacrifice that they are making. I believe and I wish to say, with conviction, that I thank the Polish people, the Polish government, Mateusz Morawiecki, for what they are doing to support Ukraine, because they are doing it for all of us too. I believe this should receive stronger and more concrete recognition from the whole of Europe. 
I therefore wish to stress, as I have already said, that I could never complain about anyone who is effectively defending their own national interests, because that is what I feel I have to do for my nation. I admire the strength being shown by Mateusz Morawiecki in defending Poland’s interests, and I want it to be clear that we are not divided on this, because we are working on the same key objective, which is not discussing how to manage illegal migration in Europe but rather discussing how to stop it. We will continue to do this work.

There is a step change that is gradually happening also within the European Council, also thanks to Italy’s efforts, and we know we can count on Poland’s position on this. I therefore also have respect for the idea of asking one’s own citizens about what is obviously a considerable issue for the security of one’s own nation. 
We will continue to work together to find solutions that are effective for everyone. 

There is then the issue of enlargement (and I shall now come to a close): the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova. This is another issue on which we have always found ourselves in agreement. I don’t like to call it ‘enlargement’, I like to call it ‘reunification’, simply because I do not consider the European Union to be a club in which we are the ones who decide who is a member and who isn’t.
Europe is a civilisation; it is history that decides who is part of it and who isn’t.  So, we are absolutely committed to European integration and I believe that the issue of European integration does not involve so much of a discussion about the rules on how [the EU] works, but rather about priorities. The more of us there are and the more the priorities we deal with will have to be defined, in the realm of subsidiarity. Brussels should not do something that Rome can do better, and Rome should not do something alone that Brussels is needed for. This is another thing we agree on. 

Then there is our excellent bilateral relationship that continues to improve in all areas. There are thousands of Italian companies working in Poland, a community that continues to grow, cultural relations, indicating and demonstrating the bond between our nations, which I am certain will continue to intensify. 

Thank you.

[Courtesy translation]