Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday took a swipe at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had suggested that freedom is more important to Brits than it is for Italians and Germans. According to La Repubblica, Mattarella said on the sidelines of a ceremony in the Sardinian city of Sassari: "Italians also love freedom but we also care about seriousness." 

On Tuesday, Johnson said in the House of Commons that Italy and Germany had lower coronavirus infection rates because the U.K. is "a freedom-loving country," and it was "very difficult to ask the British population uniformly to obey guidelines in the way that is necessary," suggesting that was not the case in Italy and Germany.