Italy celebrates Italian Unity Day

Rome: Italian president Sergio Mattarella marked Italian Unity Day on Thursday by saying that Italy and “other countries that share democratic values” must “defeat the rationale behind the war begun by the Russian Federation in the centre of Europe.”

“Italians and Europeans are called on to show solidarity and help towards a people affected terribly and be part of the commitment to stop the fighting, withdraw the occupation forces and restore international law.”

Mattarella was speaking on the 161st anniversary of the unification of Italy, commemorating the day in 1861 when the new Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in Turin.

Italy marks the occasion on 17 March each year with the Festa dell’Unità d’Italia, a national day of celebration but not a public holiday, to commemorate the birth of the country as modern nation state.