Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said
Saturday he had exerted no pressure to cancel Carlo Rovelli's
scheduled appearance for Italy at next year's Frankfurt Book
Fair and voiced the hope there would be a reconsideration of the
decision to pull the physicist and writer's participation after
he accused the minister of warmongering on Ukraine at the annual
Labour Day union-organised 'big concert' in Rome.
"I am sorry to disappoint the Italian conspiracy experts, always
on duty, who are already talking about 'censorship' or pressure,
regarding the decision of the President of the Italian
Publishers' Association, Ricardo Franco Levi," said Crosetto,
who invited science populariser and best-selling author Rovelli
to lunch after the May Day incident.
"I have never heard such a thing in my life, i am sorry that he
has decided to change speaker and I am absolutely certain that
no member of the Italian government or institutions has put any
pressure on him," added Crosetto in a note, saying "I am the
first to hope that the decision taken will be reconsidered"..
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