(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 17 - President Sergio Mattarella warned about the danger of private entities taking on roles that used to be reserved for the State is his traditional end-of-year encounter with top institutional figures.
    "The modern state was founded on the monopoly on the use of military force and (printing) money," he said.
    "These two pillars are today challenged by the prospect of a progressive privatisation of public power, by the initiative of private financial powers, capable of challenging State prerogatives, even on those two fronts.
    "Owners of immense wealth who now have a de facto monopoly in several key sectors and are building parallel, private monetary circuits".
    Mattarella also commented on the current war-ravaged international scenario.
    "We are faced with contradictory feelings in these days approaching the New Year," he said.
    "On the one hand, the need to share the hope of a future of serenity and peace, matched by the prospects that the discoveries of science offer humanity.
    "On the other, deep concern at a time characterised by wars and violence that make the world's horizon uncertain". (ANSA).