Italian President Sergio Mattarella reframes Elon Musk

This Wednesday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella reframed Elon Musk, after his controversial statements on judges struggling with the ultraconservative government of Giorgia Meloni, calling on the billionaire to refrain from “give lessons”. “Italy is a great democratic country (…) which can manage itself while respecting its Constitution”declared Mattarella in a press release, a highly respected moral authority in Italy although his function is essentially ceremonial.

“Anyone, especially if they are preparing, as announced, to occupy an important role in the government of a friendly and allied country, must respect their sovereignty and cannot afford to teach them lessons”wrote the head of state, without ever naming the billionaire. Future minister of “governmental efficiency” in the government of US President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk interfered on Tuesday in a tense debate on the migration policy of the government of Giorgia Meloni by criticizing judges from the peninsula on his network rejected on Monday the detention of a second group of migrants transferred to centers managed by Rome in Albania, referring the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

“These judges have to go”commented the richest man in the world, reputed to be close to Giorgia Meloni but also to Matteo Salvini, vice-head of the Italian government and leader of the far-right party The League. At the time when Sergio Mattarella published his press release, Elon Musk again attacked the Italian magistrates on X, in a comment to a message published on this subject by another user. “Do people in Italy live in a democracy or is it an unelected autocracy that makes the decisions?” he wrote.