Ursula von der Leyen: "Florence is the city where it all began and Europe needs a renaissance".

The President of the EU Commission at the opening of the event at the European University Institute

 "Florence is the city of the Renaissance, where everything began", said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, opening the Conference on the State of the Union at the European University Institute.

She continued, in Italian, by recalling that "the history of Europe is a history of rebirths". "After every crisis, Europe is reborn and this is what Europe needs in our time: to stop the pandemic and shape a new future for the EU", he added.

Il discorso di Ursula von der Leyen sul Rinascimento europeo

And during her speech at the State of the Union 2021 conference, being held at the European Institute in Fiesole, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen quoted Don Lorenzo Milani: "A few kilometres from Florence there is a small village, Barbiana, where Don Lorenzo Milani wrote 'I care' in English on the wall of the school. He told the students that those were the two most important words to learn. I care means to take responsibility. Europeans have shown by their actions what it means. This must be the motto of Europe. We care'". Thus the President of the European Commission, in her State of the Union address.
A praise for the city of Florence, its history, its reality. A sign of rebirth for Europe.