⁍ Italian President Sergio Mattarella took aim at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for suggesting his country was more freedom loving than others.

---

⁍ Johnson told parliament in London that Britain had a worse coronavirus infection rate than nations like Italy and Germany.

---

⁍ Mattarella said: ‘We Italians also love freedom, but we also care about seriousness

– “We Italians also love freedom, but we also care about seriousness,” Italian President Sergio Mattarella said Thursday when asked about British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s claim that his country is a “freedom-loving” one that resists efforts to fight a deadly virus, Reuters reports. “It is very difficult to ask the British population uniformly to obey guidelines in the way that is necessary,” Johnson said Tuesday during a debate on the second wave of coronavirus, which has killed more than 41,000 people in the UK and infected hundreds of thousands more. “There is an important difference between our country and many other countries around the world and that is our country is a freedom-loving country,” Johnson said. “It is very difficult to ask the British population uniformly to obey guidelines in the way that is necessary.” Mattarella’s office confirmed the president’s remarks.