Respect for Italy's free press and aid to the country, which is suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, "should go together," Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday regarding the developments with Italy's La Stampa newspaper
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th April, 2020) Respect for Italy's free press and aid to the country, which is suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, "should go together," Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Monday regarding the developments with Italy's La Stampa newspaper.
Following Russia's aid to Italy, La Stampa wrote an article describing Moscow's assistance to Rome as geopolitical rather than humanitarian and said that the help was useless. On Thursday, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, an official from the Russian Defense Ministry, lashed out at the paper saying it was trying to "discredit" Russia's medical aid to the virus-hit country. The newspaper responded a day later and said that it was "sorry and surprised" by Moscow's reaction and reiterated the need for respect for the freedom of information.
"I think that both things should go together - respect to a sovereign country and its press and at the same time friendship between the two countries, like the one between Russia and Italy, that in the last days has brought to Italy dozens of ventilators and other materials that are now helping to save lives," Di Maio said on the air of the Agora program of the Rai3 channel, adding that Rome would not be able to cope with the aftermath of the pandemic without the help of foreign countries.
Italy has the highest COVID-19 death toll in the world � 15,887 people have died from complications related to the coronavirus in the country.
