It was a privilege to welcome Italian nationals and American friends to our celebration of the eightieth anniversary of the Italian Republic.
Eighty years ago, Italian men — and for the very first time, Italian women — cast their ballots and chose to establish a Republic. That choice marked Italy’s return to democracy, to the rule of law, and to the protection of fundamental human rights and human dignity. It set our Nation on the path of the extraordinary progress that would follow, within a Europe determined to turn the page on power politics, militarism, hostility, and oppression.
Eighty years later — at a time when international relations appear increasingly turbu-lent and unmoored from shared rules of conduct — we recognize how farsighted our forefathers were, and how courageous the generations before us proved to be. Through sacrifice, perseverance, and hope, they built the great country to which we proudly belong. Let us remember this always, for Italy is all of us. Each and every one of us. And this is the message that we must credibly reaffirm and pass on, especially to our young people.
The republican values enshrined in our Constitution made and still make us a Nation — a community of hearts and minds — that embraces its destiny, rises to challenges, and stands by its friends and allies, while never relinquishing dialogue, understand-ing, and cooperation.
Solidarity, generosity, but also the willingness to listen and to include, and the right-eous pride in our creativity, in our many skills and gifts and in our willingness to share them: these are defining traits of Italian culture and of our people. Today we honor them all, trusting that we will never lose that precious drive for improvement and innovation that the world so readily recognizes in us.
And when it comes to that, our community here in the South-East reflects such traits with distinction. I say this with pride: there is no sector of the local economy, no field of science technology or culture, in which our more than 70,000 compatriots are not appreciated and do not excel. Every day, you meet — and often exceed — the expectations of our American hosts, promoting trade and business while also foster-ing mutual understanding and building trust between our peoples. And the strength of this contribution is clearly reflected in the fact that, despite global uncertainty, our bilateral relations continue to deepen and to yield significant results.
In a climax of bilateral missions and visits to and from Italy, in just under three weeks, we will have the honor of welcoming the guests of the Italy–United States Business, Science, and Innovation Forum, which will place Miami at the center of new opportunities for trade and investment between our countries. Joint Italian-American manufacturing ecosystems are thriving, trade, invest-ment and financial exchanges between Italy and the US, Florida and the East Coast in particular, are booming.
We should be proud of these results, and we should always try do even better. Italian institutions, both here and at home, re-main fully committed to supporting and assisting the Italian community to the best of their capabilities.
We renew our heartfelt thanks to all those among you who, with civic spirit and nation-al pride, have reached out to us, and have helped us serve and represent you ever more effectively. Your contribution matters — now more than ever.
And in this spirit, allow us to close with a sincere word of gratitude to the many sponsors who, this evening, have lent us their generous support.
Long live the Italian Republic!
