The first two candidates at the top of the list “United States of Europe”, Rita Bernardini and Francesco Calannawill open the election campaign for the European Parliament with a meeting in Messinascheduled for Thursday 16 May at 11 am in front of the Gazzi prison.
Bernardini, president of the “hands off Cain” association, will present himself in the city of the Strait while he has reached the seventh day of the hunger strike, to raise awareness among the institutions regarding the issue of overcrowding in prisons. Next to her is Calanna, current president of Gal Nebrodi Plus, the only candidate from Messina on the list promoted by Più Europa and Italia Viva, together with socialists and social democrats, radicals, liberals and centrists. Palmira Mancuso, regional spokesperson of Più Europa, and Antonio Matasso, regional secretary of the Social Democrats will also be present: both Emma Bonino's party and Il Sole nascente support the candidacies of Rita Bernardini and Francesco Calanna in the European elections, respectively and second place in the “United States of Europe” list. According to Calanna, «it is in the nature of things that the liberal-democratic and radical world meets with the reformist one coming from the tradition of the PSI and the Psdi. “United States of Europe” intends to offer representation to the political cultures that built the pro-European dream.”