Cohesive Italy inspired by values of peace - Mattarella

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 4 - President Sergio Mattarella stressed that Italy is "inspired by the values of peace" in his message for the country's day for national unity and the armed forces on Monday.
    "November 4 celebrates National Unity and honours the Armed Forces, whose achievements helped make Italy an independent, free nation, inspired by democratic values and peace," the head of State said.
    "It is a date that evokes distant events - wars and bloody battles that brought devastation and wounds to the society of the time".
    In the message, the president devoted a "a special thought... to our military deployed in the Middle East where, by mandate of the United Nations and as part of bilateral missions, they continue to ensure their contribution to peacekeeping, alleviating the suffering of defenceless people in a dramatic humanitarian situation, promoting respect for international humanitarian law".
    Italy has a contingent of around 1,000 troops in the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, which has come under fire recently from Israeli forces fighting Hezbollah.
    Mattarella on Monday laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Rome's Vittorio Emanuele Monument, otherwise known as the Altar of the Homeland in a ceremony that Premier Giorgia Meloni also took part in.
    "On the solemn anniversary of the day of national unity and the armed forces, we pay homage to all those who, with courage and love of country, sacrificed their lives for a free and united Italy," Meloni said in a Facebook post.
    "We also owe our freedom to them and, in their memory, pushing our mind's gaze to the painful years they lived though, we guard and protect the sacred values ;;in which they believed and which represent our nation.
    "Today, like yesterday, we thank the men and women of all the armed forces who every day act with discipline, loyalty to the institutions, sacrifice and passion, in carrying out their assigned tasks, always alongside the citizens, at home and abroad.
    "November 4th is your holiday. Best wishes, long live the armed forces!". (ANSA).