Francesco Speroni
Francesco Enrico Speroni (born 4 October 1946) is an Italian politician.
Quotes
[edit]- I don't fully identify with this constitutional document . I was two years old when the Constituent Assembly was elected. But the rules that are in place must also be enforced by those who do not believe in them: I took an oath on the Constitution, and I won't deviate from a single line of it.
- Quoted in Speroni: ministro senza sede, ma gia' lavoro con Barbera, Corriere della Sera, 22 May 1994.
- My vision is for a Charter that combines elements of the German, Swiss and US constitutions. However, we cannot ignore other contributions. Take the constitution of the United Arab Emirates, for example: although there are sultanates, it is very well designed in terms of the relationship between the states and the central structure. In fact, I hope I'll soon be able to read South Africa's Constitution too, which is completely new.
- Quoted in Speroni: ministro senza sede, ma gia' lavoro con Barbera, Corriere della Sera, 22 May 1994.
- Italians are rubbish, and Italy is rubbish. Because it doesn't want to be modern, and those who want to live off the backs of others have won.
- Bossi: «È triste, ma si va avanti comunque», Corriere.it, 26 June 2006.
- (About Fabrizio Cicchitto) I can't forget that he was the leader of the Socialists. There is no one in the Lega who was part of the First Republic, and many former AN members also find this hard to swallow. Cicchitto used to be their opponent, and now he's their group leader. He may be fine with it, but it annoys me that Berlusconi keeps inviting all the remnants of the First Republic.
- Speroni paragona il Pdl a "un bordello" Cicchitto: "E' notoriamente un troglodita", Repubblica.it 4 June 2010.
- Very often, when our unarmed fishing boats approach the Tunisian coast, they come under machine-gun fire. We use the same method. [...] The Tunisians are not in the wrong. If someone invades the territorial waters of a sovereign country, it is lawful to use weapons; that is international law. Zapatero did it too [...] They certainly don't have 'refugee' written on their foreheads, but there is no situation in Tunisia that justifies the arrival of refugees. If they came from Malta or Canada , would you say they were refugees? [...] Hitler got everything wrong: if he had lived today, he would have sent Germans out in boats to invade the world, and no one would have been able to stop them because 'well, there are humanitarian reasons'. We are using weapons in Lebanon and in Afghanistan, so why shouldn't we use them to defend our borders? There is a lot of talk about the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification, but what we are talking about here is defending the sacred borders of our country, as some people still say [...] We are being invaded; people are coming to Italy without permission, in violation of all the rules. At this point, all means must be used to push them back, including weapons if necessary.
- Maroni: "Con permessi frontiere aperte oppure non c'è più trattato di Schengen", Repubblica.it, 13 April 2011.
- It’s my passion. Some people play golf, some ride horses. I like to drive at 310 kilometres per hour on German motorways. I bought a car especially for this purpose, a Nissan GTR, which I only use here.
- Speroni: “A me piace correre sulle autostrade tedesche a 310 chilometri all’ora”, ilpost.it, 6 July 2010.
- [When asked, 'You said you drove your car a lot in Germany, where there are no speed limits. Did you set a new record?'] The last time, I reached 316 kilometres per hour on the speedometer. You can also watch the video on YouTube if you want. [...] I'm not someone who breaks the rules; common sense is a different matter – everyone has their own. Of course, I drive fast when there's no one else around. Risks are everywhere: you could be at home, and an earthquake could hit.
- Il vanto di Speroni: "In auto in Germania a 316 km all'ora", Tg24.sky.it, 28 June 2011.
- Breivik's ideas are in defence of Western civilisation . If the ideas are that we're heading towards Eurabia and things like that, and that Western Christian civilisation needs to be defended, then yes, I agree.
- Donato De Sena, Borghezio & Speroni: la vergogna dell'Europa siamo noi, Giornalettismo.com e in Ex-Berlusconi minister defends Anders Behring Breivik, Guardian.co.uk, 27 July 2011.
- [On the bar exam he took in Belgium] Because in Italy it's much harder, whereas in Belgium the exam – I'm not saying it's a walk in the park – is certainly easier. I don't know the statistics, but there are far fewer failures here than in the qualifying exam in Italy.
- Elisabetta Reguitti, Speroni, neo-avvocato furbetto, Il Fatto Quotidiano.it, 29 September 2011.
- I left [Alitalia] before they made me redundant. I retired at the age of 50. Like many of my colleagues, I receive an INPS pension. I'm privileged, but I'm not ashamed of it. As an MEP, I earn between €7,000 and €8,000 net per month. At the time, I used to pay the money from the reimbursements to the party.
- Elisabetta Reguitti, Speroni, neo-avvocato furbetto, Il Fatto Quotidiano.it, 29 September 2011.
- (About Renzo Bossi) Umberto wanted to put him forward as a candidate for the European Parliament as early as three years ago, but he didn't meet the age requirements.
- Lega, Speroni: "Bossi non ha più carisma", BlitzQuotidiano.it, 18 January 2012.
