Speech by Dr. Antonio Ballarin, President of the Federation of Associations of Istrian, Fiume, and Dalmatian Exiles, at the ceremony marking the Day of Remembrance of the Foibe and the Julian-Dalmatian Exodus at the Senate of the Republic on Monday, February 10, 2020.

 

Mr. President of the Senate,
Mr. Speaker of the House,
Mr. President of the Council and Representatives of the Government,
Authority,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Il Remembrance Day is a civil solemnity established by the Italian State with Law 92 of 2004, approved by the Chamber with 502 votes in favour and 15 against.
The then President of the Chamber (the Hon. Casini) stood up and concluded: “Dear colleagues, the bill just approved is an act of national reconciliation, of truth and justice, a testimony of love towards so many Italians who have been forgotten for too long.".
Il Remembrance Day is experienced by the world of the Julian-Dalmatian Exodus as a moral compensation for the physical and psychological violence, for the silences, For discrimination caused by a diversity, for the guilty infinite delays in seeing the sacrosanct rights of an entire people honored who have suffered one of the most terrible tragedies since the Unification of Italy.
Obviously The enactment of a law is not enough to heal what, for many of us, will remain humanly incurable.
The law must be implemented and Associations of Julian-Dalmatian exiles have stubbornly testified and transferred knowledge with activities undertaken throughout the national territory and also outside the Italian borders, where one of our communities is present.
From the date of entry into force of Law 92 of 2004 and, in particular, in recent years, important results have been achieved in breaking an unbearable silence regarding our human story, but there is still much to do and for this reason we incessantly ask the Institutions and the political world to support us on our journey, so that, finally, the Italian State no longer appears as a debtor towards the Julian-Dalmatian Exiles, but can honour, once and for all, its duties.
About this, the establishment, in 2009, of a coordination table between the Government and the Associations of Fiume, Istrian and Dalmatian Exiles at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, represented a point of reference for the discussion of the many open points, which, however, still require a commitment from the State for their resolution.
In particular, it requires it the definition of fair and just compensation for the goods abandoned by the Exiles in their lands and used by Italy to pay its war debt towards Yugoslavia. As required the definition of the Treaty of Osimo and the use of funds owed to Italy by Slovenia and Croatia in favor of the world of the Julian-Dalmatian Exodus. It requires it the Gonfalone of the city of Zadar awaiting the delivery of the Gold Medal for Military Valor awarded by President Caro Azeglio Ciampi. And it requires it the implementation of law 54 of 1989, which, being too often violated, makes our exiles, who have paid to remain Italian, appear as foreigners in their homeland.
I open topics, which must be necessarily resolved at a political level, as can be seen from this reference, are many and complex, as is, for example, the repeated request to modify law 178 of 1951 which regulates the awarding of honours of Merit of the Italian Republic, without which it is not possible to revoke the knighthood awarded to Marshal Tito, the very cause of the celebration of this solemnity.
The Julian-Dalmatian exiles never protested violently, a legacy of a civilization implicitly inscribed and aimed at the construction of good and industriousness. And it is precisely in this perspective that the Exiles for years, without any support, have undertaken a fruitful dialogue with the Italian communities that today live in Istria and Dalmatia, in the name of a return that is anything but revanchist, but full of love and perspective.
Precisely for this commitment It would be highly desirable to celebrate in an appropriate manner, in 2020, the year in which the European Capital of Culture is Rijeka, the Italian community that before the Second World War constituted more than 70% of that cityWe ask the institutions to be able to to enhance the many efforts made by our Associations to break down anachronistic ideological barriers, awaiting proper international recognition for a work of mending the thin golden thread that binds us to our Earth.
There is no doubt that the implementation of Law 72 of 2001, established for the interventions to protect the historical and cultural heritage of the communities of exiles from Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia, has been an irreplaceable driving force for the many activities carried out and we expect, also on this point, adequate political sensitivity.
As already said many times, In order for this day to be auspicious and not a sterile amarcord, it is necessary to generate a positive ethic in our society resulting from all the initiatives patiently and systematically conducted in our industrious daily life..
And it is precisely on this path that We thank the Senate of the Republic, the Chamber of Deputies, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for the closeness demonstrated in these years in a proactive and proactive manner.
Thank you.