The mayor of Modena says honoring Francesca Albanese was a mistake he wouldn’t repeat, saying that she fails to uphold “the institutional role of sobriety” and “the principle of not embracing fanaticism.”
Mayor Massimo Mezzetti revealed he had doubts from the start about meeting the controversial UN rapporteur last September, when she was presented with a symbolic city coin at Modena’s City Hall.
“To be honest, I had doubts about receiving her from the very beginning,” Mezzetti recalled, also revealing that “there was strong public pressure and the aforementioned parliamentarians showed up at my office, even though they weren’t invited,” Mezzetti said in the city council chamber.
“The climate was that way, and the request was to grant Albanese ordinary citizenship” of Modena, but “I limited myself to a closed-door meeting. I admit frankly that a week later, after the events in Reggio Emilia” - when Albanese rebuked that city’s mayor for having called for Hamas to release hostages - “I wouldn’t have done even that.”
“Albanese failed to uphold the institutional role of sobriety to which she was called, and to the principle of not embracing fanaticism. That phase is certainly behind us today, and if it were to arise again, it would be handled differently.”
Albanese Responds: “The Time Has Come to Return the Coin”
“The time has come to return the city coin the mayor gave me: a memento that will serve him more than me.” This is how Francesca Albanese responded on social media to Modena Mayor Massimo Mezzetti’s regret regarding the September meeting at City Hall.
