Art dhe Kulturë

Bruno Vespa: Absurd to ask for permission to invite Zelensky to Sanremo

Bruno Vespa: Absurd to ask for permission to invite Zelensky to Sanremo

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's participation in the Sanremo Music Festival through a video message has sparked a debate in Italy.

According to the leaders of Sanremo, Zelensky himself asked to participate in the most famous Italian music festival, just as he greeted the Venice Film Festival, Cannes and the Golden Globes.

Bruno Vespa says that it is absurd to get permission from the government to invite a person to the festival, moreover the leader of a country which is occupied.

"To imagine that we had to ask the Prime Minister's permission is surreal," says Vespa, who a few days ago was in Kiev where he interviewed President Zelensky. "Zelensky told us that he would like to participate in the Festival," he said. "In 1990 I interviewed Saddam Hussein against the advice of the Italian government," he recalls.

"Honestly, I don't understand all this noise because of a short intervention of Zelensky. "I am sorry for this malice towards a man who fights with extraordinary courage to save the freedom of his people," said Vespa.

"We can show that we are on the side of this people even by giving Zelensky a few minutes in Sanremo. We gave it to Saviano, why not to Zelensky?!" - he added.