In his statements to the Foreign Press Association of Rome, the Italian former prime minister and leader of the Five Stars, Giuseppe Conte, referred to the developments of the war in Ukraine.

“In Europe we must overcome the armed conflict, get out of the vortex of war. In my opinion we must work for a just peace in Ukraine“, he underlined. “The predictions that had been made failed. If we had made greater diplomatic efforts, now we would have achieved a different solution”, said the leader of the “five stars”.

He added that his party belongs to the progressive forces of the Union, that it is characterized by a “pro-European but also critical approach” while he did not rule out the possibility that his MEPs would support Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as president of the European Commission.

“Common European defense is also our goal, but without Europe continuing to focus on a “war economy”. We need to build a real, common foreign policy and common European defense will be a natural consequence,” added Giuseppe Conte.

In relation to the Middle East, finally, the Italian former prime minister he underlined that “despite the horrific attack that Israel received on October 7, 2023, nothing can justify the thirty-five thousand dead in Gaza” and that “Italy had to vote in the UN General Assembly for the resolution to expand the rights of Palestine and not to choose abstention”.