Sergio Mattarella chose June 2, Republic Day, to refocus attention on a long-debated but unresolved issue: the "brain drain," the departure from Italy of thousands of young people, often college graduates, in search of improved job and life opportunities abroad. The head of state stated that a farewell should be the result of a "free choice" and "not a constraint imposed by a paucity of opportunities". The president addressed the issue in a five-minute video message broadcast on Rai Italia, the international channel of state television, to Italians living abroad on June 2. A desire, that of communicating with Italians on the other side of the frontier, that is the result of a deliberate communicative choice by the state: to ensure that Republic Day is truly the holiday of "all" Italians.
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