The only way to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis is for European Union member states "to be united and show solidarity," Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Tuesday.
"Europe must be united and show solidarity. There is no alternative," Di Maio wrote on Facebook from Brussels, where he was due to meet economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni and European Parliament president David Sassoli.
"I am in Brussels today and there is a big question linked to COVID-19 - the Recovery Fund," the post added, referring to the EU's 750 billion euro stimulus package made up of grants and low-interest loans.
Italy needs to pull together to "rapidly" obtain its 209 billion euro share of the Recovery Fund (the biggest of any country), the post argued.
"Italy must work as a team at all levels. It must exploit its full potential. And we need to rapidly receive the 209 billion that will allow us to invest in our country, support families, re-launch companies, digitalise and innovate in order to modernise and be more competitive."
Italy is due to receive its share of the Recovery Fund by 2023 and plans to spend it on priority areas such as infrastructure, job creation and social cohesion, health, the green economy, education, digitalisation and modernising its bureaucracy.
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