Ruotolo (PD) submits to the Commission the same question that cost Gabriele Nunziati his job

Brussels – MEP Sandro Ruotolo and the entire PD/S&D delegation have tabled the same question that led to the firing of Gabriele Nunziati to the European Commission.

“We decided to transform the question that cost the journalist Nunziati his job into a political and parliamentary act: if Russia has to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, should Israel also pay for the reconstruction of Gaza?” asks Ruotolo, who is a journalist by profession. 

The story is well known: during the Commission’s press conference on October 13, 2025, Nunziati asked this question, to which the Commission spokeswoman had not replied. A few days later, the Nova Agency fired the colleague, calling the question “out of place and erroneous in nature.”

“No question is out of place,” Ruotolo explains. “Freedom of the press is guaranteed by Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. And since the Commission has stated that it is ‘always willing to answer any question’, we decided to ask the European High Representative for Foreign Policy the question ourselves, officially.” 

The question asks the Commission whether it considers that Israel should also contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza after months of bombings that have claimed over 65,000 civilian lives and destroyed 90 percent of the buildings. 

The MEPs also ask the Nova agency “to reinstate the dismissed journalist.”