After the hearing at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber and the meeting with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale, another important institutional meeting took place for the leaders of the Federation of Associations of Istrian, Fiume and Dalmatian Exiles. At the Italian Cultural Institute in Zagreb in the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Croatia Pierfancesco Sacco, FederEsuli not only held an in-depth conversation with the diplomatic representative, but also signed a Program Agreement for the creation of a cultural network with the Italian Union, a body representing the native Italian community in the former Yugoslavia. The aim is to "promote their cultural and institutional activities in mutual interest, for an ever-wider knowledge and for the protection and valorization of the cultural and historical identities of the lands of Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia".

"Once again we have found from the institutions of the Italian State - comments the President of FederEsuli Giuseppe de Vergottini - attention and sensitivity towards our requests. The agreement that we officially stipulated at the end of a fruitful meeting led by Ambassador Sacco perfects a common path that we have undertaken with the Italian Union in recent months and that we intend to implement. Also to demonstrate that the Adriatic Italianity, equally represented by exiles and natives, is united, proactive and authoritative"

Many were the initiatives promoted by individual associations that before this important organic agreement have kept the relationships between the two shores of the Adriatic strong, such as the gatherings of Polesani, Fiumani and Rovinj in their places of origin or the cultural and academic relationships established by the Society of Fiumani Studies or the support provided by Dalmatians to the Italian-language kindergarten “Pinocchio” in Zara. Maria Rita Cosliani, present at the meeting as Vice President of the Association of Italians of Pula and Istria – Free Municipality of Pula in Exile, also recalled in her capacity as President of the Mailing List Histria, that this association promotes competitions in Italian every year for students of Istrian, Fiumani and Dalmatian schools and the participation is always considerable. Also speaking were the President of the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia Renzo Codarin, the President of the Association of Istrian Communities David Di Paoli Paulovich and the President of the 10 February Committee Emanuele Merlino. The latter recalled that already in 2013, within the framework of a European project, a Slovenian association laid a wreath at the Basovizza Foiba, anticipating that spirit of collaboration in the European framework that Italy, Slovenia and Croatia intend to develop. Those present hoped that, starting from the Foiba of Villa Surani, where Norma Cossetto was killed, a shared path could begin with the local authorities to identify and adequately highlight the foibe and burial places of the victims of the repression carried out by the Yugoslav communist partisans in the final phase of the Second World War.

The FederEsuli-Ui collaboration could be an effective trailblazer for an ever closer synergy between Rome, Ljubljana and Zabagria, also with the hope of bringing to a solution the still open questions regarding the rights of exiles and natives.

 

Lorenzo Salimbeni