The foibe, the Julian-Dalmatian exodus and the denied rights of Istrian, Fiume and Dalmatian exiles: topics that Italy is starting to know better thanks to the Day of Remembrance and that have finally also had visibility at the European institutions. In fact, the event organized by the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia, the Adriatic Coordination Association and the Multimedia Documentation Center of Julian, Istrian, Fiume and Dalmatian Culture “You will leave everything dearly beloved. The exile of the Julians, Fiume and Dalmatians at the end of the Second World War” at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels has concluded.

Thanks to the valuable support of the Hon. Elisabetta Gardini, the exhibition of the same name was set up in the parliamentary exhibition spaces, visited from 5 to 7 February by dozens of visitors, especially MEPs, officials and professionals from all over Europe. Through information brochures, panels in English and the multimedia material available, the opportunity to view a broad overview of the history of the eastern Italian border was provided for the first time, in such a way as to understand how rooted the Italian community of the eastern Adriatic was over the centuries and the catastrophes that struck it at the end of the Second World War: "The myth of Antigone teaches us how deep-rooted in European culture is the respect for the dead - said the Hon. Gardini inaugurating the exhibition on Tuesday 5 February - and the words of John Paul II "There is no peace without justice and without forgiveness" attest to the importance of an event like this". Among the first visitors to the exhibition were Italian MEPs Mario Borghezio and Stefano Maullu and Croatian Nino Jakovčić, one of the founders of the Istrian Democratic Diet. Later, there were also visits by the President of the Veneto Region Luca Zaia and the President of the Regional Council of Veneto Roberto Ciambetti, to reaffirm the closeness of Venice and the Veneto region with the culture, history and people of the eastern Adriatic.

The second roundtable discussion of the event, moderated by Davide Rossi (Federation of Associations of Istrian, Rijeka, and Dalmatian Exiles), took place on Wednesday, February 6th, again within the European Parliament. Following "Europe and the Northern Adriatic. Italian demands thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall," the discussion focused on "The rights of Istrian, Rijeka, and Dalmatian exiles: between internal legislation and a communitarian vocation." Kristjan Knez (President of the Society of Historical and Geographical Studies of Piran and Vice President of the "Giuseppe Tartini" Italian Community of Piran) provided a quick but precise reconstruction of the history of indigenous Italianness and how it survives today after the terrible postwar exodus, which ultimately amounted to ethnic cleansing, and the repression carried out by the regime of Josip Broz "Tito." Professor Giuseppe de Vergottini (Emeritus of the Alma Mater University of Bologna) addressed the failure to protect Italy's national interests regarding the Adriatic question: "We must have the courage to say that the exodus was a crime against humanity," the distinguished constitutionalist stated, "and that the principle of self-determination of peoples was violated by not granting the people of Istria, Fiume, and Dalmatia a plebiscite to decide whether they belonged to the state." Fascinated by the figure of Tito, Italian left-wing parties often neglected the protection of legitimate Italian interests, and government forces failed to engage with the local community and those directly affected, even bypassing parliamentary debate. An example of this was the Treaty of Osimo, by which Italy, after secret negotiations with Yugoslavia outside the diplomatic channels of the Farnesina, definitively renounced sovereignty over Zone B (Koper and Buje) of the never-established Free Territory of Trieste. Dr. Donatella Oneto (Judge at the Court of Pavia) highlighted the legal protections violated by the nationalization of the exiles' property by the Yugoslavian authorities: "The burdensome Peace Treaty of February 10, 1947, nevertheless protected the property of those opting for Italy," the rapporteur, a descendant of exiles, recalled, "and Article 3 of the Italian Constitution, which came into force on January 1, 1948, enshrines the equality of citizens. Yet it was Italy itself that exploited the arbitrary nationalizations implemented by the communist regime to obtain a discount on the war reparations to be paid to Belgrade, and citizens on the eastern border suffered discrimination and paid a debt that burdened the entire national community. Mandatory consular protection was never exercised with determination to protect the property of compatriots, and Article 18 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits discrimination based on nationality, was disregarded by Slovenia and Croatia with regard to property abandoned by Italians. The lawyer focused on the compensation established by the Treaty of Osimo. Davide Lo Presti, highlighting how the $110 million compensation amount inherited from Yugoslavia was unilaterally divided between the successor states of Slovenia and Croatia, without calculating default interest or involving Italy, noted: "Italian case law subsequently rejected requests for a more favorable review of the compensation," recalling the member of the "Commission for the Examination of Applications and Compensation and Contributions Relating to the Losses Suffered by Citizens in the Territories Ceded to Yugoslavia, in Zone B of the Former Free Territory of Trieste, and in the Former Colonies," "rejecting requests for compensation for moral and material damages. Furthermore, the compensation paid by the Italian State was considered a solidarity contribution and therefore unrelated to its financial value."

The session was followed by Hon. Jakovčić, who envisaged future collaborations for the recovery of the Istrian territory in synergy with the associations of exiles and with Hon. Gardini, who reiterated her willingness to support the claims and projects of the Adriatic diaspora. Legal documents and memorials on the issue of the eastern Italian border will finally be submitted to the scrutiny of the European Commission, in order to give continuity to this first significant initiative.

 

Lorenzo Salimbeni