On October 3, 2020, the National Council of the Federation of Associations of Istrian, Fiuman and Dalmatian Exiles met in Mestre.

The President, Dr. Antonio Ballarin, gave his end-of-term speech , reported below, eliciting emotion, appreciation, and gratitude from the assembly for the work done.

In his passionate speech, the President was able to summarize all the actions he has implemented over the last eight years in great detail , producing a summary report and another, extremely detailed one of 610 pages, containing most of the activities carried out (those wishing to have a copy can simply send a request to presidenza.federesuli@gmail.com).

The assembly warmly applauded the outgoing president's speech and proceeded to elect the new president, Professor Giuseppe de Vergottini, who will continue the work accomplished with great commitment and dedication by the previous president.

Speech by President Dr. Antonio Ballarin :

Premise

As you know, I was elected President of the Federation on October 3, 2014, being at the time President of the ANVGD, a position that I continued to hold for the following 12 months. But it is precisely from the ANVGD that I need to start again in my narrative.

I have been participating in the Association's life since 1980 or so, without ever having had any responsibility.

In 2006, on the proposal of Oliviero Zoia (whom I thank), I became a Councilor of the ANVGD. On October 4, 2008, the day of the beatification of Don Francesco Bonifacio, Toth and Codarin asked me to accept the nomination as Delegate for Administration. Lucio was a true friend to me and a teacher who guided me until the last days of his passing – a grave loss that still moves me today.

I was elected president on November 18, 2016 in Gorizia and my acceptance of that position was a very difficult one on my part.

At 53 years old, fully employed, not yet retired, I accepted on the strength of an ideal.

From this position I got to know not only the ANVGD, but the entire associative world of Exodus from an unknown and privileged perspective.

Around me, I have heard the following terrible phrases several times (I have in mind the names and faces of those who repeated them to me, so I know I am telling the truth): “What do you want to do? It's all over.” “But what do you think you can do to change?” “Everything is dead here.” And so on.

In those years, was our world, then, a bloodless world?

It must be clear to everyone that I committed myself by putting myself on the line in first person and putting aside my other aspirations, by force and because of a sense of denied justice that I could not and cannot bear. By force and because of a feeling of need to fix things, not give up, return, spread our memory.

To describe the climate I perceived, I have extracted four emblematic contributions from my collection:
• an open letter to our world from November 2012,
• an open letter to Massimiliano Lacota,
• a statement on the controversy surrounding the upcoming performance of Magazzino 18,
• a press release explaining the sale of the headquarters in Via Serra in Rome.

In short, the divisions I saw in associations saddened me. I began to travel far and wide through our communities, starting with the most problematic and dialectical ones and, little by little, a bit of everyone: Turin (first), Milan, Brescia and then Bergamo, Genoa, Verona, Padua, etc.

I understood that confining oneself only to social lunches and gatherings did nothing but self-limit oneself in an area marked by amarcord. From those symposia one did not leave with a programmatic sense of perspective, but with nostalgia, like so many losers where there was nothing left to do.

In the letter to our world, I express the painful understanding for such a situation and I begin to decline those ideas that have accompanied me for all these years, namely:
• memory, testimony, historical narration;
• openness to all, not only to those of Istrian or Dalmatian blood, but, as others do, to those who are passionate about our history;
• dialogue with the world outside our self-referentiality,
• presentation of our story as a non-local, non-provincial archetype, not confined to Trieste and Gorizia, but true for the whole of Italy and with international value;
• presentation of our story according to the canons of denied rights (it is not clear why if the denied rights are ours then we can ignore it);
• educational action, with dissemination of our history and culture in schools and institutions;
• media action, with dissemination of our history and culture using the means of communication in use, with performances and demonstrations;
• identity, or pride in our belonging to a Land, to a historical and cultural root to be aroused in the generations following the first;
• inseparable link with our origins;
• activation of joint projects between our Communities and the indigenous Communities of Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia;
• design of a pragmatic perspective for our people gathered by the same identity but divided by the events of history.

This program could not be realized in a short time.

2013 Highlights

In the autumn, Renzo Codarin, then President of FederEsuli, asked me if I was available to accept the role of President and I made myself available, always with the usual openness, without even knowing for sure what I was getting myself into. And from that date, even though I was not formally elected, I began my close association with Renzo's activity, fully understanding the peculiarities he had to deal with on a daily basis and offering, in total openness and linearity, my friendship.

Furthermore, thanks to Lucio's mediation and my activism and thanks, above all, to Foreign Minister Bonino and Undersecretary Dassù, the 2013 budget law refinanced law 72/2001 for the three-year period 2013-2015.

But in 2013 two other important issues occurred that would have consequences for the following years:
• the representation of Warehouse 18,
• the sale of the ANVGD headquarters in Rome.

On Magazzino 18. Basically, in February 2013 Cristicchi and I got in touch and, in order to realize his work, which premiered on October 22 in Trieste, Simone had me, Alessandro Altin, Piero Delbello and I don't know who else read the script. Well, it was clear right away that this work, the first of its kind, would have been a resounding success not only in our world, but also and above all outside. And yet, despite this clarity of judgment, we continued to fight with noisy and minority fringes within our world who wanted to avoid bringing the work on stage.

It was in March 2014 that, during an ANVGD National Council, Renzo Codarin had the winning idea of ​​using part of the few, very few funds available, to represent that work, released - I remind everyone - with theater seasons already underway and certainly not to the liking of the political party that governs the theaters. That idea of ​​Codarin, combined with the commitment of our people in the territory who, freely and with passion, little by little, embraced the guidelines mentioned above, allowed the representation organized by us in Venice, Padua, Verona, Pescara, Perugia, Rome and then exploded throughout Italy, with a diffusion and success that swept away every useless, bad and preventive controversy. Controversies, however, that were not swept away in the hearts of those who experienced them firsthand.

The second issue concerns the sale of the headquarters in via Serra, a necessary act and abundantly established in its clarity, lucidity and necessity. And yet, this fact, which in all these years has been reported to me over and over again as unfair, calling into question, by bad and perverse people, my total honesty.

2014 Highlights

The government was led by Renzi.

In 2013 I did not celebrate the GdR at the Quirinale, but in La Spezia. Coming back, by train, leafing through all the newspapers of the next day, I found only a news photo of the GdR in the Corriere della Sera on an inside page (Alemanno laying a wreath in Rome). For the rest: nothing!

Such a press silence horrified me and to prevent this from happening again in 2014, I began to write, months before, to the President and the DG of RAI as well as, thanks to an excellent intuition of one of the 4 people who have been constantly, freely, kindly and with great passion close to me in all these long years, to the Presidents of the Chamber and Senate, who appoint the RAI top management.

It is from this date, 2014, that the attention curve begins to rise as regards our penetration in newspapers and TV.

Immediately after the GdR, the Government-Exiles Table was convened at the PCM. Following that meeting, a document was drawn up, our platform, which has guided us throughout these years. As you can see, the platform features both the logo of the Federation and the Union of Istrians. This was possible thanks to a long mediation process with Lacota, who was initially very collaborative and, after the renewal of the IRCI leadership in the following years, closed and polemical on every small initiative.

Our platform, written by many hands, has been and is an essential point of reference in our entire proposition. Some points have been resolved, others remain open and are part of those denied rights for which it is worth fighting again. In particular:
• Fair and just compensation, which has not been talked about for a long time;
• Treaty of Osimo and creation of a Foundation;
• Gold medal in Zadar;
• Honours to the fallen;
• Personal data issues;
• etc.

In the fall of 2014, an unprecedented attack began by the Piccolo di Trieste against some of our Associations and some of our people. The whole thing had as a pretext the budget hole discovered for the IRCI and brought to light by Stefano Nedoh. The price of this transparency was a war aimed at painting Stefano as a monster, smearing the Associations of the Federation, accusing the undersigned of profiteering on the Foundation issue, etc. For days (17 in a row), our Associations and our people were accused with articles published on the front page of the Piccolo for nefarious deeds never perpetrated and fomented by a ferocious, divisive, cynical group.

The story stopped during a dramatic phone call, received by the director of the Piccolo while I was in the car taking Lucio home after a meeting at the Quirinale for the next RPG. On that occasion, during the two hours of conversation, I withdrew a complaint addressed to the newspaper and the newspaper let the accusations that every day discredited our world more and more die.

It was a very tough battle won with our heads held high.

2015 Highlights

The government was still led by Renzi.

2015 saw the organic resumption of the work of the Technical Scientific Commission established under Law 72/2001. The Commission had not met for some time and the entire financing process was struggling due to a very heavy bureaucracy. The continuous rotation of the Delegated Officials, who accepted the assignment and then withdrew after a few months, put the very existence of some Associations in crisis. In that year, thanks above all to the intervention of Undersecretary Cesaro, his chief of staff Capone and our Diego Lazzarich who introduced them to us, the mechanism started moving again.

On January 15, for the first time, after careful persuasion and thanks to the fact that he had been invited by us to see Cristicchi's work, a government representative, the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Della Vedova, for the first time ever (as far as we know), went on an official visit to Warehouse 18 in Trieste.

The GdR was celebrated in the Chamber, in the presence of an astonished Laura Boldrini who expected to meet four old people and instead we filled three rooms of Palazzo Montecitorio packed with people of all ages and all social ranks. It was a very important meeting because for the first time a certain left heard talk of rights denied by a part of the Italian population, not non-EU.

In that way, we opened a crack in the world of that political party that had not tolerated us until that date.

In addition to the President of the Senate Grasso, the newly elected President Mattarella also participated in that celebration. It was his second participation in a public event. The first was a visit to the Fosse Ardeatine.

As our presence in newspapers, radio and television increased, there began to be an increase in acts of vandalism towards our symbols, which included the defacement of the Monument to the Martyrs of the Foibe in Rome, on February 10, and even the throwing of an incendiary bomb inside the headquarters of the AVGD in Rome.

Thanks to the network that I was gradually building throughout the territory and that today sees the presence of people linked to our history and our culture from Bolzano to Palermo and from Trieste to Ventimiglia, in that year the systematic solicitation of Municipalities, Provinces and Regions for the celebration of the GdR took on even greater strength, with the increasingly massive involvement of schools.

Also in 2015, unfortunately, we recorded the resounding defeat by the European Court of Human Rights and related to the appeal regarding compensation to the Exiles. This defeat, whose consequences are far from dissolved, forced us to open a deep internal reflection, well summarized in an intense letter of friendly confrontation with Silvio Delbello.

In August we celebrated an unprecedented success with the exhibition “Tu lascerai ogni cosa più caramente”, conceived by Davide Rossi and created by Stefano Nedoh and Alessandro Scardino, and presented at the Rimini Meeting. That exhibition was attended by about 20 thousand people, so well done that it is warmly encouraged again.

In the meantime, the improper attacks on ADIM by Renzo de Vidovich were becoming more and more widespread, as he tried to drag me into his positions against the current management.

2015 also marked the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Osimo. Among the documents you will find an important attachment signed by me, Codarin and Braico, whom I miss as a friend of adulthood and with whom I had, on associative issues, a daily relationship.

The year ended with the refinancing of law 72/2001 for the years 2016-2018. This battle was won thanks to the help of Toni Concina, who opened a direct channel of dialogue with the then Minister Gentiloni, and with the usual activism of myself and the invaluable Serena Ziliotto in the dialogue with politics.

2016 Highlights

The government was still led by Renzi until December 12.

2016 opens with the request to the top management of RAI, which has now become customary, to give adequate coverage to our story not only in the RPG.

The GdR was celebrated in the Senate, in the presence of Grasso, Boldrini and many politicians, including Letta, former prime minister.

In 2016 I recorded a lively correspondence with RAI because, if on the one hand it gave more and more space to our events, on the other it showed a gross ignorance on the issues of the Eastern Adriatic. From this correspondence it is clear how constantly, on our part, the Public Service and not only, the Italian diction of characters and places of our history was solicited, which, in several broadcasts, as usual was omitted.

This battle, which seems like a small thing, actually shows the extreme importance of our work on the territory, in schools, with the Ministry of Education and, moreover, the importance of our presence in the media. Our identity and dignity are at stake.

2016 was the year of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy and on April 25th the Jubilee of Exiles took place in Barbana, near Grado, at the tomb that commemorates our Egidio Bullesi. The mayor of Trieste, Dipiazza, was present and, on that occasion, he invited me to request a joint gathering to be organized for the following year, 2017, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the entry into force of the Paris Peace Treaty of '47. From that kind request followed a resolution of the Executive for the celebration of a similar event (with the Union of Istrians in agreement) and a consequent letter to the Mayor to prepare its organization.

That year Carlo Azzeglio Ciampi died, the President of the Republic who celebrated the first GdR by lining up the honor guard in front of the Altar of the Fatherland, an event that was never repeated in the following years.

Also noteworthy is the request to the then Ambassador of Croatia, Damir Grubisa, to be able to obtain Croatian citizenship for those who wanted it, exiles or descendants, as is the case for Italian-speaking Croats in Croatia. As we know, our world is divided on the hypothesis of dual citizenship, but it is one thing to have a possibility and refuse it and another to not have it at all.

In 2016, Renzo de Vidovich's attack on me began to take shape in a complete manner, exploiting, as he usually does, arguments taken from me and distorted by him.

In November, to put an end to a tug of war with the then Delegated Official who refused to disburse the funds, giving rise to useless controversies especially in Trieste (some good person had spread the word that the funds had been cut because of who knows what misdeeds...), Undersecretary Cesaro went to Trieste and Gorizia. During that visit he also had the opportunity to go to the Abisso Plutone, accompanied by me, as well as to many other places of our memory.

The year ends with two important issues. The first refers to the conference held at the Chamber to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Treaty between Italy and Croatia for the protection of minorities; the second, instead, concerns a very heavy article against our entire world, against the GdR, against our narrative (i.e. the one supported by historical facts) carried out by the Internazionale. We responded to those falsehoods with an article written with my participation and that of Lorenzo Salimbeni, Davide Rossi, Lucia Bellaspiga, Giuseppe de Vergottini, Michele Pigliucci and Tito Sidari.

The year 2016 was also the year in which the website www.federesuli.org took shape and consolidated, developed, as usual, with private means and throwing the usual heart beyond the obstacle. It was necessary to have a communication tool otherwise the official news would never have penetrated. Not only that, this website has become, over time, the unifying element for many forces in the territory that over the years have brought together news, stories, timely reconstructions of the flows and movements of the Exiles in Italy and abroad, and much more material. For that website I had to ask for a technical intervention that I really couldn't do alone. The company that helped me, fortunately a friend, issued an invoice of 1500 euros that was paid this year (2020), while all the people who worked for free and for love for an ideal, have only received some compensation this year thanks to the communication project. Together with the website, it is in those years that the presence on social media was intelligently used to connect distant people.

Well, despite this effort whose benefits are evident, this year, in the last Executives, I felt mortified when I was asked the why and wherefore of the communication project. I would have expected a warm thank you for having had the idea of ​​not letting ourselves be overwhelmed by the press and the enemy controversy, for having created not a static sheet of paper but a living community that revolves around social tools, and instead I perceived only distrust, as if the funds for that project (scarce and late) would end up in who knows what pocket.

2017 Highlights

The government was led by Gentiloni, who had already been Foreign Minister in the previous government.

2017 was an eventful and successful year for the Federation.

It begins in January with an important meeting in Zadar between the Italian Consul and Ambassador, city authorities and the Italian Union, on the topic of preserving bilingualism and education in the Italian language.

A letter follows, if you like, a bit illusory. However, as Max Weber says, "the possible would never be achieved if the impossible were not always attempted in the world." It is a letter to the newly installed President Trump, in which I ask for help in enforcing the Treaty of Paris, as far as we are concerned, the USA being the power that signed that treaty.

The GdR was celebrated in the Chamber on the 70th anniversary of the 47 Treaty. For that very occasion, our people expected an intervention by the President of the Republic, who instead failed to do so and, probably to recover from the gaffe (I remember that the Quirinale hosted the official celebrations of many other events), five days later on February 10, a delegation from the Federation was welcomed with full honors by Mattarella in a direct meeting. His Protocol apologized for his absence at the GdR, saying that we should have warned him in advance. I remembered that circumstance and on July 27, 2017, I invited him to the 2018 celebration!

In the spring, for the preparation of the Economic and Financial Document (on the basis of which the financial law is issued), the FI group in the Senate led by Maurizio Gasparri, presented a motion to have the question of our still open point regarding the so-called fair and equitable compensation inserted into the financial law.

On April 13, there was a historic visit by Angelino Alfano, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Betrice Lorenzin, Minister of Health, accompanied by me, to the stele commemorating Vergarolla in Pula, in the presence, among others, of their two Croatian counterparts, Davor Stier and Milan Kujundzic, as well as the mayor of Pula, Boris Miletic, and the governor of the County, Valter Flego.

On my return, unfortunately, a teacher and a friend passed away: Lucio Toth. A great loss.

In June, the amendment to law 72/2001 was finally approved, allowing us to benefit from all the funds allocated for the realization of our projects, right from the beginning of the works, thus eliminating the very burdensome issue for us of the 50% advances and our subsequent advance of the remaining 50%.

In the meantime, at the beginning of July, it was becoming increasingly clear that some people in Trieste, rather than being linked to the Julian-Dalmatian Exodus, were linked to the Habsburg past. I am referring to Massimiliano Lacota's commitment to the creation of a statue to Maria Theresa of Austria and the ferocious and unjustified attacks of these towards our Manuele Braico, already tried by an illness that was fatal for him, taking his life on July 8th.

On July 7th, at 17 pm, I saw Manuele for the last time. I was with Alessandro Altin, a faithful traveling companion. The loss of Manuele was the loss of a true friend, a friend of adulthood and left a great void not only personally, but also within the Federation because his frankness, his availability and his tenacity are rare commodities.

Twenty days later, Enzo Bettiza, a witness, writer, man of culture and friend of our cause, also passed away.

Two days later, on July 31, I literally blocked a torpedo that would have caused atrocious damage to all our testimony activity. It was the initiative in progress at the Tuscany Region about an educational model parallel to the ministerial one, where we have been present for years, for the teaching of the events of the Eastern Adriatic. With a direct intervention I met the vice president of the Region and councilor for culture and we straightened out the initiative by including our teachers and our first-generation witnesses in the program.

On September 15, the Treaty of Paris came into force. The unitary rally did not take place, but instead a terrible broadcast was broadcast on TeleCapodistria, to which I responded harshly, analyzing it frame by frame, and for which I asked for a reparative broadcast for our memory. We are still waiting.

In October Tullio Canevari also passed away, a proactive, positive, intelligent, friendly and very correct person for whom I had and have great respect.

In October the climate in Trieste was scorching. Attack after attack by de Vidovich and Lacota about the mismanagement of funds from law 72/2001 and other personal attacks not only on me but also on Codarin, Nedoh, Luxardo and the entire Federation. On October 7th a press conference was organized on the fly thanks to the excellent Viviana Facchinetti at the Sala Fenice of the Circolo Fincantieri.

It is interesting to note that such attacks on thefts that never existed (attacks that were later rejected with a complaint in 2018), came while the undersigned had to borrow funds from friends to be able to carry on the role of president. As you know, I live on my salary and to travel, talk or be present with this one and that one, I had to ask for substantial help because the Federation's cash fund was always exhausted for the activities of the GdR, for the awards, for the travel expenses of the various subjects who, when invited, did not throw the famous heart over the obstacle, for me, instead, a consolidated custom.

On November 2, having seen the Pope at the Fosse Ardeatine, I wrote to invite him to Basovizza. We are still waiting.

Still in November, however, I achieved an exceptional success, even though I kept a very low profile and continuously weaved between MAECI, Defense and PCM. It was the announcement that things were finally unblocked for the recovery of the bodies of Castua, Ossero and Poloj. A piece of news for which many of us had worked before me, such as Gen. Elio Ricciardi, of ADIM, the president Amleto Ballarini and Marino Micich of the Society of Fiumani Studies and others.

2018 Highlights

The government was still led by Gentiloni until June 1st, then Conte.

The year opens with the usual letter to RAI, then with one to the Pope (to invite him to the Village in Rome), an interesting letter to Lacota (in response to yet another controversy), a press release in response to yet another falsehood and distortion by de Vidovich, always ready to sow discord, a letter to Corrado Augias as a polite remonstrance for his justificatory intervention.

On January 12, I brought to the attention of the Executive the request of Paolo Sardos Albertini regarding the entry into Federesuli of the Association he directed, the National League. This request was in line with what many had hoped for regarding the expansion of the Federation, the only interlocutor with the Government (for now) to which not all the Associations of the Julian-Dalmatian Exodus adhere.

On February 10th I held a wonderful meeting in the Liguria Region, where I met many people from our community and many friends that I see every year in Lussino. Then, in the afternoon, the GdR was celebrated in the Senate, in the presence of Presidents Mattarella, Casellati, Fico and other personalities.

Meanwhile, the educational action of the Tuscany Region was also taking shape with the participation of our Associations.

In March I underwent major surgery that put me out of action until Easter. That event shook me a lot and, in relation to my position in the Federation, I was even more shocked by a certain reaction that I would never have expected. In essence, while I was in the hospital, I learned that there was concern about how appropriate it would be to have a new president in case I left. I reflected on the fact that it would have been more appropriate and more friendly to raise the issue in the aftermath of my relaxation of the clachi. I began to see the Federation no longer as a group of friends who help each other, but as a set of rules, statutes, minutes, procedures and bombast very far from my idea of ​​a movement, as conceived together with Toth in the years of his closeness.

Even though I was convalescent, I recorded a dense exchange of correspondence to include the issues that concerned us in the DEF of that year, as happened the year before.

On June 30, giving a moral slap to the many who thought that I had nailed myself to the chair in an improper manner, I was re-elected president. In this regard, it is good to remember that the statute, duly updated, no longer sets the limit of two consecutive mandates.

In July, the recovery of the poor mortal remains of the martyrs of Kastav takes place. The Italian authorities, after consulting with the Croatian ones, advise me not to participate in that event in order to avoid useless polemics with the most quarrelsome communist and nationalist fringes.

In Lussino, in the summer, an IWB was installed, bought with difficulty with the little money in the bank, to give life to a common project, followed by Professor Elisabetta Patelli from Como, to teach Italian in the local Italian-speaking kindergarten where, however, the teachers are Croatian-speaking!

In September the film Red Land, opposed in its realization by some people of our own Associations (see the Magazzino 18 affair), is on the home straight. To cover the production costs I ask, I ask and I knock on every door, until I get to the Fondazione Alleanza Nazionale. In the end, after many efforts, the film is made and is viewed, transforming many detractors into great promoters, fortunately. This work constitutes a very important point of arrival for which I have been working since Lucio asked me to take care of it, that is, since the autumn of 2009, the date of the first meeting with Alessandro Centenaro.

In the autumn, invitation letters are written in preparation for the next GdR as well as a letter to Di Maio, Minister of Economic Development, for the creation of a stamp celebrating Norma Cossetto. We are still waiting.

The year ends with a farewell to a conference organized by Francesco Casale, a very active friend in the Salerno region and, in general, in Campania.

2019 Highlights

The key event of the whole year, and the echoes of which can still be heard today, is the official celebration of the GdR which took place at the Quirinale in the presence of the Presidents of the Republic, the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, the Government and the Constitutional Court.

On the occasion of this event, we recorded the largest presence in the media ever since the establishment of the GdR. Obviously, this result is the consequence of a policy that is always attentive to the communication issue (despite the perennial lack of funds); attention that over the years has led to the achievement of a relevance for the events of our history and our culture, never achieved in previous years. In the Executive of a few years before, the fact was considered that a newspaper of national importance would not publish more than one article a year on our issues. Already since 2018 and especially since the GdR 2019, we have been able to observe how this trend has been reversed. The insistent, constant and obstinate hammering on denied rights, on the points still open, on the honors to the fallen, on artistic representations (films, theater, exhibitions, etc.), on conferences, on schools, etc., involving all of Italy, has led to the consequences that today we can note with satisfaction.

February 10, 2019 was also the year in which Tajani ended his speech in a botched manner in Basovizza, a circumstance that caused tension, especially on the Croatian and Slovenian sides. However, this fact has exposed how our story requires great responsibility. Uncontrolled outbursts have immediate repercussions on our indigenous communities of Istria and Dalmatia and can cause damage to our entire history.

2019 is also the year in which a complaint is (finally) filed against de Vidovich – just to make him understand that pouring rubbish on others is not a good thing, it takes up time and takes away energy from testimony – and a bill is filed in Parliament by the Hon. Mario Pittoni, son of refugees, of the Lega group, which tries to satisfy the issue of the expected fair and equitable compensation. That proposal was recently re-presented and is the only initiative that is currently pragmatically viable to obtain some justice.

In March 2019, an important conference will be held in Osimo on the Treaty that takes its name from that city.

Also in March I wrote an impassioned open letter to Moni Ovadia, author of a justificationist piece published in Il Manifesto.

In April, a conference is held at the Chamber where, in addition to my presence, there are those of: Quagliarello, Giovanardi, Stelli, Monzali, Ivetic and Simoncelli. An important event that rekindles interest in us in the world of politics.

In May the victims of Ossero were exhumed and, in that same month, I received a welcome phone call from the then Minister Moavero (I have never received a phone call from a minister without going through his secretariat...). The Minister proved to be a true gentleman because, to follow up on Mattarella's words pronounced at the previous GdR, he invited me to several meetings to close the points still open with the Government. Unfortunately, the Government would fall the following month.

Meanwhile, to thank the Croatian Government for the exhumations of Casuta and Ossero, we ask for a meeting with the Croatian President.

In the Technical Scientific Commission, multi-year projects are starting to be discussed, in order to pay off the State debt still open and caused by its bureaucratic slowness. An important signal of a clear political will.

In November, an important conference promoted by the Circolo Istria will be held in Trieste on the issue of Exodus, indigenous communities, healing the fracture, common projects, etc.

Finally, after a controversy with RAI for a reductionist-justificationist broadcast, the year ends with the important regional seminar of Lazio on our events, promoted by MIUR, which, every year since 2007, thanks to the tireless Caterina Spezzano, has been churning out meetings and gatherings for the proposition of the themes dear to us in all the schools of Italy.

2020 Highlights

The year starts off well… on January 6th I write a letter of response to Senator Stojan Spetic, who in turn had just written a very dangerous, long and brutal justificationist missive to Mattarella.

Again in January, in order to continue the conversation started with Moavero, the entire Federesuli is received by Deputy Minister Claudia Del Re. Unfortunately, also for this meeting (and it was to be expected) we are the object of the launching of garbage and infamy fired at zero, to which we respond by telling, as always, the pure and simple truth.

Immediately after, the regional seminar of Abruzzo, organized by MIUR, starts, along the same lines as the one that took place a month before in Lazio. The participation is remarkable as is the importance obtained.

In Fertilia there is an important event for the launch of a museum project with the participation of myself and many of our people, including Egea Haffner.

The next RPG takes place in two moments: at the Quirinale in the presence of Mattarella, with a concert and with pieces chosen by me, taken from our authors and recited in the Sala Paolina - on that occasion musical pieces by our Gigi Donorà are played - and, the day after, at the Senate. The visibility obtained is very broad, even more extensive than what was achieved in the previous year, honestly an unthinkable result, but which also highlights a certain climate of change towards us, progressively achieved with our work.

On the same day, after the Senate, a very high-profile event takes place at the Circolo degli Scacchi organized by Prof. De Vergottini and held together with Davide Rossi.

In March, before the total closure due to COVID, I had time to request, as a Federation, to be included as a stakeholder in the composition of the Università Popolare di Trieste, a request that was not accepted with the new statute.

On July 13, at the end of the lockdown, Mattarella and Pahor visited the Basovizza Foiba. The Federation had previously expressed a clear political opinion in favor of that visit. A visit whose effects are now starting to be seen with the emergence of foibe never seen before in Slovenia and with the declared willingness of that government to honor our fallen with dignity. As usual, an internal dialectic arises, understandable and civil, but there is no shortage of buckets of garbage fired out of envy to which I have always responded adequately, without offending, but with firmness.

On September 8th, to follow up on the meeting of July 13th, a meeting with the Government was requested, to which I received an informal response on its organization shortly.

The last action concerns the one conducted to invite the President of the Senate Casellati to the inauguration of the Monument that will be unveiled on October 10 in Milan. The President had given his availability on the condition that he be called by the Protocol of the Municipality of Milan, which, however, refused to invite her.

Conclusion

In Lussingrande, where I often return, there is a lively community, not only native and resident, but of first, second, third (!) generation exiles who assiduously frequent the places of their ancestors. It is a visible, recognizable, well-known, effervescent community, coming a bit from Veneto and then from Genoa and Trieste. Familiarity is at home. This community has maintained, in all these years of communism and nationalism, the traditions of the place and on August 15th there is a celebration in the square, even if not organized. One of these people, a young lady with three children who comes from Trieste whose grandmother was a great friend of my mother, this year when she met me she looked at me with a sly smile and one eye half closed from under a parasol, saying: “You are our flag” and then, immediately after, point-blank: “When do we start repopulating?” and we burst out laughing.

Our action has regenerated what was thought dead and impossible. And in this I was helped by the careful reading of a book by John Paul II, fundamental for my work: Memory and Identity.

I leave the presidency of a healthy, strong, present, recognized and recognizable Federation, financially stable, participating in the media and on the national territory.

I hope that the next presidency will continue the work undertaken when I felt like I had a dying man in my hands.

I hope that the next presidency will continue on the path it began years ago, that is, that it will continue to operate according to the guidelines indicated, such as:
• memory;
• open to all;
• dialogue with the outside world;
• presentation of our story as a non-local archetype;
• battle over denied rights;
• dissemination of our history;
• media presence;
• identity promotion;
• inseparable link with our origins;
• activation of joint projects;
• design of a pragmatic perspective for our people gathered by the same identity, but divided by the events of history.

I hope the next president does not bring this world back to the vegetative state it was in a few years ago, when I put aside my professional career and my private life to take care of it.

Thanks

I have to thank so many people I have met and known over the years. There are hundreds and I don't think I will be able to be exhaustive, so I apologize in advance for the omissions.

I would like to start with the four most faithful ones who have always followed me, at all times, in the associative life and in the private one, throwing together with me, as always, that famous heart beyond the obstacle, freely and for human passion. So thanks to:
Marco Brecevich,
Nadia June,
Simona Gervasi,
Stephen Nedoh.

Thanks to Giorgio Varisco, frank, honest, wise, a great help in the knowledge of history and in the management of many Associations.

A passionate and faithful thanks to the team that I built wandering from city to city, country to country, a group that followed me faithfully, that was the true backbone of our dialectical, operational and always proactive efforts. Thanks therefore to:
Adriana Ivanov, Padua,
Alessandro Altin, Trieste,
Alessandro Scardino, Verona,
Andrea Altin, Trieste,
Andrea Manco, La Spezia,
Anna Di Tunno, Sulmona,
Anna Maria Crasti, Cernusco,
Antonella De Francesco, Rome,
Antonio Caputo, Avellino,
Benito Pavazza, Latina,
Carlo Alberto Morsetti, Rome,
Casimiro delli Falconi, Foggia,
Cinzia Calizzi, Crotone,
Claudio Ausilio, Arezzo,
Cristina Caputi, Prato,
Cristina Chenda, Turin,
Daniela Dotta, Jesolo,
Daniela Stemberger, Latina,
Daniela Velli, Florence,
Davide Bellocci, Genoa,
David Rossi, Verona,
Diego Lazzarich, Naples,
Dino Grebaz, Mantua,
Donatella Bracali, Pesaro,
Elena Barlozzari, Rome,
Elena Depetroni, Bergamo,
Electra Paresi, Siena,
Elizabeth Foroni, Verona,
Emanuele Bugli, Venice,
Emanuele Merlino, Rome,
Enrico Kikko Ruffi, Cagliari,

Fabio Agarinis, Rome,
Fabio Lagonia, Catanzaro,
Fabio Lo Bono, Palermo,
Fausto Biloslavo, Milan,
Filippo Borin, Protogruaro,
Franca Balliana Serpentine, Jesolo,
Francesca Gambero, Novara,
Francesca Paola Montagni Marchiori, Venice,
Francis Casale, Salerno,
Francis Ostrogovich, Massa,
Fulvia Siscovich, Taranto,
Fulvio Mohoratz, Genoa,
Giampaolo Pani, Modena,
Gianni Grigillo, Milan,
Gigi Donerà, Turin,
Gino Sizzi, Taranto,
Gino Zambiasi, Palermo,
Giorgia Görner Enrile, Palermo,
John Baptist Zannoni, London,
John Grigillo, Milan,
Giuliana Donerà, Turin,
Joseph Nappa, Avellino,
Ileana Macchi, Genoa,
Italy Jacket, Padua,
Lorenzo Canepari, Rome-Trieste-Edinburgh,
Lorenzo Salimbeni, Rome,
Lucia Bellaspiga, Milan,
Luigi De Bernardis, Rome,
Luigi Perini, How,
Marella Pappalardo, Orvieto,
Margherita Sulas, Cagliari,
Maria Rita Cosliani, Cernusco,
Marino Micich, Rome,
Mario Buzzai, Messina,
Mario Diracca, Pescara,
Mario Sicconi, Latina,
Matteo Gherghetta, Milan,
Mauro Manca, Fertilia,
Mauro Runco, Verona,
Myriam Andreatini, Florence,
Nadia June, Trieste,
Nadia Stossi, Lucca
Patricia Mihaljevic, Lecce,
Petra of the Lakes, Genoa,
Piero Simoneschi, Latin,
Piero Tarticchio, Milan,
Pierpaolo Becich, Milan,
Roberto Biffis, Treviso,
Rudi Ziberna, Gorizia,
Romano Bosich, Palermo,
Sciannameo Giovanni, Washington,

Serena Ziliotto, Rome,
Sergio Tabanelli, Massa,
Silvano Scherl, Roccella Ionica,
Simona Pellis, Rome,
Sisa Barich, Milan,
Stefano Nedoh, Trieste,
Tiziana Sauco, Massa
Valentina Petaros, Koper,
Walter Lazzari, Savona,
Viviana Facchinetti, Trieste,
Vito Fumarola, Martina Franca.

Thanks to the world of politics and thanks in particular to:
Charles Giovanardi,
Maurizio Gasparri,
always available, responsive and proactive, as passionate about our history as we are.

Thanks to the State servants who have followed us up to today with particular affection:
Corrado Azzollini,
Elizabeth White,
Catherine Spezzano,
Renata Codello,
John Bonazzi,
Anna Maria Affanni,
Fabrizio Magani,
Carlo Notarmuzi,
Catherine Musolino.

A special thanks to Francesco De Luigi, a true daily interface between the Federation and the Institutions, for the many battles fought together, and who knows, maybe we will fight some more together.

Dr. Antonio Ballarin

President FederEsuli