The University of Trieste awarded the Master's Degree today Honorary in Law to the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and to Borut Pahor, former President of the Republic of Slovenia, two personalities who are contributing to writing the history of the Adriatic border.

The double award is in fact motivated by the policy of reconciliation pursued by the two Presidents, which has made the eastern border area, marked by the wounds of twentieth-century history, an example of collaboration between peoples linked by their common membership in the European Union.

This is motivation: “Sergio Mattarella and Borut Pahor have courageously repudiated the narrow perspective of nationalistic egoism, to pursue instead a policy of reconciliation, based on the creation and consolidation of spaces and symbols dedicated to collective memory, as the foundation of authentic peace between peoples. Two statesmen who have interpreted love of country in a high European dimension, thus contributing to transforming the Adriatic border, from a territory of bitter ethnic and cultural conflict, to an area of ​​dialogue, cooperation and friendship, in the common awareness of human rights and in the light of democratic freedoms”.

The text of the motivation was read in Italian by prof. Gian Paolo Dolso, Director of IUSLIT, the Department of Legal Sciences, Language, Interpretation and Translation of UniTS, which proposed the double awarding of the Honorary Degree. The Slovenian version was instead entrusted to Professor Teresa Pertot. 

Professors Davide Rossi e Fabio Spitaleri they read the two laudationes.

“The task of our University is to build bridges and not walls, to contribute concretely to the social, cultural and ethical growth of our young people”, explains Roberto Di Lenarda, rector of the University of Trieste. “In a historical moment like the current one, marked by war scenarios, the University opens its doors, includes, protects and supports above all the weakest, but must be respected in its autonomy of collaboration to produce science and develop human and social culture”.

“Science is produced by doing research, in cooperation, even competitive, with other universities and research institutions with which to progress together and support the most advanced minds and souls even in societies that are suffering”, continues the rector, inviting us to manage the climate of tension that is shaking Italian universities with balance and rationality.

 The ceremony took place in the Aula Magna, in the presence of the Rector, the academic community, civil, military, diplomatic, religious authorities and students.

Placed in the broader context of the enlargement of the European Union to the Western Balkans and of the political and diplomatic action conducted by the two Heads of State and their predecessors Giorgio Napolitano and Danilo Turk, today's celebration confirms the role of theUniversity of Trieste as a place for discussion and dialogue and constitutes a new opportunity for the two Presidents to meet, demonstrating the solidity of a relationship that continued even after the end of Pahor's mandate. 

In fact, over the years there have been numerous initiatives that have seen Mattarella and Pahor as protagonists, such as the ceremony “Europe, a place where conflicts are overcome” on the centenary of the union of Gorizia to Italy on 26 October 2016 and the meeting on 21 October 2021 aimed at celebrating the joint designation of Gorizia and Nova Gorica “European Capital of Culture 2025”, an award destined to increase the sense of unity of the two cities, divided by barbed wire until thirty years ago.

Also to be remembered as a fundamental moment in the new season of relations between Italy and Slovenia, a model of collaboration for the European continent, is the bilateral meeting in Trieste on 13 July 2020, with the Presidents' homage to the symbolic places of the tragedies of totalitarianism. 

This is not the first time that the University of Trieste has awarded an honorary degree to a President of the Republic: we remember Luigi Einaudi on 4 November 1954, on the occasion of the return of Trieste under Italian sovereignty, and Antonio Segni in 1963, on the threshold of the institution and start of the Region with special statute.

The ceremony was enriched by the performance of the Italian, Slovenian and European anthems by the Choir and Orchestra of the University of Trieste, conducted by Riccardo Cossi. The University Choir was supported by some members of the Vikra Choir.

At the end of the ceremony, the university's centenary anthem "Sorprendi la sorte" was also performed, with lyrics by Marcela Serli. 

Christina Perini
Source: University of Trieste – 12/04/2024

La Laudatio by Prof. Davide Rossi, who is an authoritative representative of the Julian-Dalmatian Exodus associations:
https://www.coordinamentoadriatico.it/laurea-honoris-causa-delluniversita-di-trieste-ai-presidenti-mattarella-e-pahor/ 

La Lectio magistralis of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella:
https://www.quirinale.it/elementi/110714