Rome, 15 April (LaPresse) – “The war in Iran must be brought to a swift conclusion in some way, because otherwise the risks to the global economic system are very high.” So said Luca Ciriani, Minister for Relations with Parliament, speaking as a guest on ‘Ping Pong’ on Rai Radio1. “A month ago, we issued a decree on energy bills that cost €5 billion. Then, within 40 days, we issued two decrees to tackle high fuel prices; these two decrees cost €1 billion and cover 40 days of excise duty cuts. It is clear that this is an extraordinary situation; we cannot go on like this,” he emphasised. “If the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is not resolved, we will need extraordinary measures, and the European Union needs to understand – as was the case during the Covid pandemic – that extraordinary situations require extraordinary measures, because the calculations I have made and the figures I have just outlined clearly show that it is difficult to imagine intervening every month with a billion euros to cover fuel costs.” “If the situation does not break the deadlock, if Trump is not proven right – that is, if everything is not resolved within 2–3 days – then we will be facing a crisis lasting weeks and months, to which an urgent response is required, because we are not talking about a problem for Italy, for the Meloni government, or about energy bills affecting only Italians; we are talking about a risk of stagnation and global recession in the world economy, particularly the European economy,” Ciriani continues, looking to Brussels: “The strict criteria for classifying national budgets must be reviewed if we are facing a new emergency like the one we experienced with the pandemic, so to speak. Another thing we cannot do is postpone the decisions that need to be taken indefinitely; they must be made quickly.”