Extreme cordiality and renewed commitments to resolve the issues that are dear to the world of the Adriatic diaspora: this is how the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella welcomed this morning at the Quirinale a delegation of representatives of the Associations of Istrian, Fiume and Dalmatian exiles led by the President of FederEsuli, Giuseppe de Vergottini.

"A year after the day spent in Trieste by Mattarella together with the President of the Slovenian Republic Borut Pahor - explains de Vergottini - we have verified that there is great institutional sensitivity towards our still unresolved events. Certainly the President of the Republic has demonstrated during his mandate a growing attention to the issues of the eastern border, helping to ensure that it becomes a page of Italian history shared by the entire national community and not limited to the local sphere or to the memories of those who lived it and their descendants"

In this regard, the High Patronage that the Quirinale has granted to the thirtieth anniversary of the Italian Union (the organization that brings together the native Italian communities of the former Yugoslavia) was appreciated and the excellent outcome of the first summer school for teachers held last week at the Vittoriale degli Italiani, dedicated to the history of the eastern border and organized by the Working Table Ministry of Education - Associations of Istrian, Fiuman and Dalmatian Exiles was reported: «The fruitful relationship - continues the President of FederEsuli - that we have established with the Ministry of Education must serve as an example for the technical table that our associations should hold regularly with the Secretariat of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which however has not yet met in this Legislature»

Mattarella assured his commitment to the Presidency of the Council to bring the most important issues up for discussion, with particular reference to abandoned assets and the three-year refinancing of Law 72/2001 "Interventions to protect the historical and cultural heritage of the communities of Italian exiles from Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia", which supports the cultural activities of Adriatic associations: the instability of government majorities and the pandemic crisis have affected the executive's activity, but there is room to address some of the Adriatic exiles' claims in the near future.

Renzo Codarin (National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia), David Di Paoli Paulovich (Association of Istrian Communities), Franco Papetti (Association of Italian Fiumani in the World – Free Municipality of Fiume in Exile), Franco Luxardo (Association of Italian Dalmatians in the World – Free Municipality of Pola in Exile) and Tito Lucilio Sidari (Association of Italians of Pola and Istria – Free Municipality of Pola in Exile) accompanied de Vergottini to this meeting, on the sidelines of which two memorials were delivered. One concerns the placing of the Gold Medal for Military Valor on the Gonfalon of the City of Zara (an event that dates back to the time of Ciampi's presidency), the other the request to set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the Vergarolla massacre, the first (18 August 1946) and the bloodiest in the history of the Italian Republic.

Particularly appreciated was Mattarella's assurance, now on the eve of the white semester, that in the handover to his successor there will be ample references to the problems of the Julian, Fiume and Dalmatian exiles and the recommendation to dedicate the utmost attention to them.

 

Lorenzo Salimbeni