Gennaro Sangiuliano: Italy’s tradition minister quits over love affair scandal | EUROtoday

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The Italian tradition minister has resigned days after tearfully apologising to his spouse for having an affair.

Gennaro Sangiuliano tendered his resignation on Friday almost two weeks after the rumours of his affair with advisor Maria Rosaria Boccia started.

The scandal included hypothesis that Boccia had been given entry to delicate authorities paperwork pertaining to an upcoming Group of Seven (G7) tradition ministers assembly.

It erupted final month when Sangiuliano denied Boccia’s announcement on social media that she had formally been appointed as an adviser for main occasions within the ministry.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni accepted the resignation of Sangiuliano, a member of her far-right Brothers of Italy get together, calling him “an honest man”.

In an interview Wednesday on RAI state tv, Sangiuliano mentioned Boccia’s appointment had by no means been finalised as a result of potential battle of curiosity associated to the affair.

He additionally mentioned that he had personally footed the invoice for her bills whereas on ministry enterprise, and insisted that she by no means had entry to delicate authorities materials. He mentioned he had damaged off the transient affair on 8 August.

“The first person I must apologise to, an exceptional person, is my wife,” Sangiuliano mentioned tearfully. “I apologise to Giorgia Meloni, who trusted me, for creating embarrassment for her and for the government.”

Boccia has since stuffed her Instagram feed with rebuttals as Sangiuliano tried to tamp down the firestorm surrounding her.

They included a recording that appeared to verify her appointment and her insistence that the ministry had at all times paid for her bills regardless of Sangiuliano’s denials.

Sangiuliano put his mark on the ministry by changing foreigners who had been administrators at prime Italian museums and putting in a brand new head of the Venice Biennale to counter what some noticed as years of left-wing bias. He additionally backed a brand new five-euro entrance price to the Pantheon, Italy’s most visited cultural website.

In an announcement, Meloni thanked him for his “extraordinary work that permitted the Italian government to deliver important results in the relaunch and valorization of the great Italian cultural heritage, also beyond national borders”.

Meloni was available later for the swearing in of Alesandro Giuli, head of Rome’s MAXXI museum of up to date artwork and structure for almost two years, as the brand new tradition minister.