Letizia Moratti: "The matter is settled" with Ignazio La Russa, who had called her a "moron"

“Matter closed” and “no comment”. This is how Letizia Moratti has poured cold water on the row sparked yesterday by the remarks made to her by Senate President Ignazio La Russa. Her statement was published on the Instagram page The Journalai, and the events date back to a few days ago, to the rally organised in Milan by centre-right parties to express solidarity with the police following the weekend’s unrest. There, La Russa, in an ‘off-the-record’ moment and thinking he wasn’t being recorded, spoke about Moratti, saying: “Who the hell gives a shit about her? She’s an idiot. But can someone actually say, ‘I’m speaking because I’m the mayor’?” The video subsequently went viral on social media, prompting the President of the Senate to state that he was “sincerely sorry” for his remarks and that the words had been “rude”.

Moratti brushed off "the incident" without elaborating, whilst speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the ECAD (European Cities Against Drugs) meeting in San Patrignano. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was also present at the meeting. “Behind every addiction there is a human being, and the human being comes first,” said the co-founder of the renowned drug rehabilitation centre. “Here at San Patrignano, it is not an addiction that arrives, but a young man or woman with their own wounds and their own potential. This is the San Patrignano approach.” Since its inception, “27,000 people have passed through its doors, and today the community comprises 850 young people. Seventy-two per cent of those who complete the programme are considered to have recovered.” 

“Responsibility remains, but punishment can also take the form of rehabilitation and reintegration. A second chance does not erase the past, but it prevents that past from determining the entire future,” Moratti continued. “Addictions are changing too,” she explained. Alongside drugs and alcohol, we find gambling, new vulnerabilities linked to social media, gaming, isolation and synthetic drugs. The means may change, but at the root we often find loneliness, distress, fear and a need for connection.”

Hence, Moratti goes on to say, the need to ‘get there first’: the WeFree prevention project had reached nearly 60,000 people by 2025, including more than 50,000 students. Those who join the community can access over 50 training programmes and more than 20 professional sectors, with 300 qualifications and academic credentials awarded each year, including degrees. “Study and work build skills, self-esteem and dignity,” he concluded. “Beauty is not merely decorative: it is an educational message; it teaches attentiveness, order, respect and value.”