Massolo expresses anger at Rome Expo 2023 defeat

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 28 - Giampiero Massolo, president of the committee promoting Rome's candidacy for Expo 2030, reacted angrily to the decision to award the international exhibition to Riyadh, saying the principle of "commercial drift" had applied.
    "If this is what is chosen by the international community, by an overwhelming majority, it means that the choice rests on the transactional method, not on the transnational one," said Massolo. "The principle of immediate interest, of commercial drift is valid," he added.
    "It is dangerous," continued Massolo.
    "Today it was the Expo, first it was the World Cup, then, who knows, it could be the Olympics...
    "I would not like it to come to the buying and selling of seats on the (UN) security council, because if this is the drift, I believe that Italy should not go along with it," he said.
    "Until the last, neither we nor the Koreans were aware of numbers of this magnitude, so something must have happened during the last mile," continued Massolo in relation to the 119 votes taken by the Saudi capital to Rome's 17 and Busan's 29.
    "I am not criticising, I am not making accusations, I have no proof, but the commercial drift concerns governments, it also concerns individuals sometimes," he added.
    The ambassador also said lessons should be learned from the divisions between European Union member states in the run-up to Tuesday's ballot.
    "I believe that if we really want the European Union to have a role and a standing in the world, someone needs to learn a very deep lesson from the divisions we have seen among European countries," said Massolo, referring to the controversy surrounding France's announcement that it would support Riyadh.
    "It is Europe, with its member states in particular, that has emerged the loser," he added. (ANSA).