The financial maneuver and the battle on differentiated autonomy. The law on citizenship and the challenge of the autumn regional elections. The protagonists of politics are preparing to resume the debate after the summer break. And Rimini is ready to welcome them. There are just a few hours left until the start of the 45th edition of the Meeting of Friendship among Peoples, the traditional event of Communion and Liberation that marks the restart of the political season and beyond. Ten ministers and fourteen regional presidents, party leaders, spokespeople for various religious faiths, and then representatives of civil society and the business world. 450 speakers, 14 exhibitions and 17 shows will animate the fair of the Adriatic city. Deputy Prime Ministers Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini will be there. The president of the Meeting Foundation Bernhard Scholz is also confident in the presence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, even if she is not currently scheduled. Many, however, are expecting a surprise at the last minute. There is space and time to host a speech by the Prime Minister.
The volunteers of the movement founded by the priest Luigi Giussani have prepared everything in detail. Panels, round tables, interviews, debates. But, like every year, the spotlight will also be on what happens off the stage. On the leaders’ walks between one stand and another, as well as on the unexpected meetings between usually distant political exponents. With the ongoing tensions between Lega and Forza Italia, all eyes are on the two secretaries, Salvini and Tajani. There was no government summit before the August break. And a face-to-face meeting in Rimini seems difficult, considering that the two vice-premiers will be at the Meeting on different days. In any case, there is anticipation for their speeches. The same that, on the other side of the hemicycle, is felt for the return to the scene of Paolo Gentiloni, former prime minister whose contract as EU commissioner expires, who has not yet found a role in Elly Schlein’s PD. Speaking of the center-left, in Rimini there will not be, barring any surprises, neither the Democratic Party secretary nor the Five Star Movement president Giuseppe Conte. Nor will Matteo Renzi, Carlo Calenda, Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli. Representing a broad field under construction are the group leaders in Parliament. For the M5S there will be Stefano Patuanelli, for Iv Raffaella Paita. Carrying the flag of the Democratic Party will be the president Stefano Bonaccini. The new MEP will take part in a debate between the governors Michele Emiliano and Massimiliano Fedriga which, on the subject of Autonomy, promises to be heated.
Elena Bonetti of Azione will instead press the Minister of Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti, in view of the next budget law. In a debate where, next to the minister, the leader of Noi Moderati Maurizio Lupi will also sit. Also to reel off the economic challenges is Minister Raffaele Fitto. And then the governor of the Bank of Italy Fabio Panetta, the director of the Revenue Agency Ernesto Maria Ruffini and the president of INPS Gabriele Fava. Speaking about the Constitution, instead, is the president of the Consulta Augusto Barbera. Space, not secondary, reserved for foreign policy. Starting with European policy, with the comparison between MEPs of different groups, from Ecr to S&d, from Carlo Fidanza to Antonio Decaro. “Revitalizing democracies, against the poisons of extreme polarizations”, this is how the Meeting explains one of the tasks of the 45th edition. Where elections in the United States will be discussed, but also climate change and ongoing wars. And the effort for peace will go through both the meeting with the Nobel Prize winner Oleksandra Matvijcuk, a Ukrainian lawyer, and the dialogue between the secretary general of the Muslim World League, Muhammad Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, and the president of the CEI, Matteo Maria Zuppi. In the comparison between different worlds, Rimini will go “in search of the essential”, the theme with which CL titles its 45th Meeting.