They start tomorrow, as part of the Taobuk Festivalthe celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the Messina and Taormina Conference (1955-2025), an appointment promoted by the Sicilian Region in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation, the Municipalities of Taormina and Messina, with the support of the European Commission and under the high patronage of the European Parliament.
The initiative will take place From 18 to 20 June, in the two cities symbol of the birth of Europe which in 1955 hosted the meeting of the six foreign ministers of the founding countries, on the impulse of Italian Minister Gaetano Martinolaying the foundations of future Europe.
The inaugural day will open on June 18, at Palazzo Zanca in Messina, with an institutional meeting in the presence of foreign ministers and representatives of the countries signatory of the 1955 conference report (Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg), the presidency trio of the European Union, of the President of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani and the mayors of Messina and Taormina, Federico Basile and Cateno De Lucawhich will be followed in the evening, in Taormina, the official opening ceremony at the Antico Theater with a concert by the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra directed by Alevtina Iffein the presence vice president and foreign minister Antonio Tajani and the Polish Foreign Minister Radostaw Sikorski (President on duty of the Union).
June 19 will be the moment of the ministerial session behind closed doors in which all the invited delegations will take part and at the end of which a joint declaration will be signed on the future of Europe. The day will continue at Palazzo Corvaja with a series of rounds and round tables open to the public and the participation of leading exponents of the European political, academic and journalistic world. On Friday 20 June, the celebrations will end with two panels dedicated to the paths for a new political integration and the institutional, economic and cultural implications of this process.
The meeting will be held “America was once upon a time: Europe, Trump and the future of transatlantic relations” in which Gilles Gressani, director of the Geopolitics magazine Le Grand Continent, Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic Edantondent of the New York Times, Joschka Fischer, former deputy vice -changing and German Foreign Minister, Gordon Ripinsky, director of Politico Berlin will participate and Silvie Kauffmann, editorial director of Le Monde