Draghi and his 23 Cabinet ministers took their oaths of office at the Quirinal presidential palace. Italian President Sergio Mattarella had tasked the former European Central Bank president with trying to form a government up to managing the the health, economic and social crises of the coronavirus pandemic. In deference to coronavirus precautions, all participants in the swearing-in ceremony were masked, and a palace aide provided each minister with a fresh pen to sign their oath. Draghi made no public comments during the first hours of his premiership, and his eyes showed no discernible emotion over his N95 mask. Draghi’s most-quoted words so far have been those uttered in 2012 when the euro-zone risked collapsing in a crisis of confidence and he vowed the European Central Bank would do “whatever it takes” to rescue the euro.

Source: Daily Sun February 13, 2021 12:39 UTC