Conte: If it doesn't rise to the occasion, the EU will lose its reason for existence

(Patria) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has asked the EU not to make 'tragic mistakes' in managing the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, warning that otherwise 'the entire EU project could lose its reason for existence'.

In an interview published on Saturday in the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Conte stated that the coronavirus pandemic could 'destroy the European economy'.

- If nothing is done, our children will bear the burden of a destroyed economy, the Italian Prime Minister emphasized, proposing the creation of a European Recovery and Investment Plan to support the entire European economy.

He noted that we are living in a time of crisis with a huge loss of human lives and an equally large economic recession.

- I represent a country that is going through terrible suffering and I cannot waste time, Conte said, stating that if Europe does not rise to the occasion, 'the entire European project will lose its reason for existence'.