Atreju (annual Brothers of Italy festival) is also becoming a battleground for the opposition, as the Fratelli d’Italia party is scheduled to take place in Rome from 4 to 13 December. Giuseppe Conte has decided to accept FdI’s invitation and promises to go and remind Giorgia Meloni of “the mistakes of the past four years”. Elly Schlein, on the other hand, will not be attending: the Pd (Democratic Party) secretary considers “Parliament to be the forum for debate” with the majority. The two leaders of Avs (Greens and Left Alliance), Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni, take the same line,with Fratoianni clarifying:“Accept the invitation and go to the Atreju? Everyone makes their own choices; I’ve never been there and it would be really strange if I were to start a new tradition right now.”
Among the expected guests, however, are Matteo Renzi and Carlo Calenda.
Conte has no intention of cancelling the trip. “Whenever I can and have been able to, I go, and I have always spoken in no uncertain terms,” he said during a public interview for L’Italia di Domani. For the M5s (Five Star Movement) president, accepting the invitation means, above all, being able to speak to an audience that is not his own: “It is important to speak to an audience that is not in favour as well,” he said, to explain “the mistakes of these past four years that will weigh heavily on future governments and future generations”. He is targeting the government’s three commitments: the Stability and Growth Pact, the European rearmament plan and the increase in defence spending. These are agreements which, according to Conte, “we will have to review, and it will be extremely difficult” and which were concluded “without a mandate from Parliament”. “I will go to Atreju to remind them of this,” he promises.