«A celebration of the whole country. The Resistance must be recognized as a national heritage»- Corriere.it

“April 25th? It is national heritage. Everyone’s heritage.” Lorenzo Fontana spells out the words well. On the anniversary of the Liberation, the Speaker of the Chamber will be at the Altare della Patria, alongside the Head of State Sergio Mattarella, for the deposition of the laurel wreath.

President, that it belongs to everyone every April 25 – for 78 years now – is questioned by someone.

“Certainly not from me. I strongly believe in the fact that April 25th should be everyone’s holiday. And therefore, precisely for this reason, I believe it is a mistake not to recognize oneself in this anniversary: ​​anti-fascism is a value. In the same way, many times I have happened to think that it is a mistake to celebrate the Liberation as if it were the celebration of only one part, because its value is precisely this: not only communists and socialists participated in the Resistance, but also liberals, monarchists and – as a Catholic I want to remind you – many Catholics. In Verona some figures remain etched in the memory».

Who is he talking about?

«Of Flavio and Gideone Corrà. Two boys, Catholic Action militants, who began to be targeted because they exhibited the pin of their association instead of that of the fascist party. They both died between March and April 1945 in the Flossenbürg concentration camp and the Church proclaimed them Servants of God».

In short, do you fully feel the Resistance as a value?

“Certain. In the awareness that it was a battle of many people of even very different backgrounds in the name of freedom and against totalitarianism. Which in fact was defeated by history precisely because there was the initiative of many. I believe it is a very serious mistake not to feel represented by a battle of this type. Because it was the struggle of an entire people and of all its political representations and inspirations. It seems almost trivial to say that one can be an anti-fascist without being a communist or, in any case, a leftist».

Why do you speak of April 25 as “heritage”?

“Because it is. It is our heritage. Liberation was the foundation of this country as we have it today. And the fact that there are these divisions weakens the country itself. As a whole. If a founding party like this doesn’t bring us back to a common vision, it makes us weaker abroad and at home. When there is no shared memory, the state is weaker. I hope that this is a fact that can finally be overcome”.

And besides hoping for it, do you think it will actually be like this?

«I don’t know about this but not recognizing the value that there was in the Liberation is a political error, as well as a historical one. The message is conveyed that this Republic is still only a partisan matter today. But this isn’t true and these are controversies that do no one any good, I think that basically they don’t even move voters. In addition to not being useful towards the younger ones ».

Are younger people at risk of being confused?

“Certain. When I talk to the younger kids in Montecitorio I always remind them that one day they too will elect Parliament. Who will be able to let whoever decides to enter and will be able to send home those who do not deserve it. But that they can do it because a war of Liberation was fought after a period in which everything that can be done today simply could not be done. After all, we can not worry about the decline in voters if we continue to question the foundations today. But the heritage to be passed on to young people is also this: the awareness that freedom and the possibility of expressing oneself are privileges that were not given away, but cost the lives of many people”.

His party is the League. Even today there are those who believe that he is not entirely free from extreme right-wing sympathies, if not in some ways fascist.

“I find it frankly very offensive. I feel fully anti-fascist, even though I don’t come from a leftist background. I’m sorry that this concept – not as far as I’m concerned, but in general – hasn’t been fully metabolized. As far as I’m concerned, I’m the opposite of fascism.”

In what sense “the opposite of fascism”?

«Fascism is totalitarianism that wants to homogenize, I love diversity and identities. Approval is not my world. After all, Italy is the homeland of diversities, of a prodigious variety of different realities, where totalitarianisms aim to unify and pass with the plane. An even crazier issue is that of racism, the idea of ​​a superior race that reduces man to an idealized form rather than man to his uniqueness. In this sense, I really feel the opposite».

President, you said that the absence of a fundamental vision makes us weaker abroad. Can you explain us?

«On the 24th I will be in Prague, at the Conference of Presidents of the EU Parliaments. The question of war, energy and commercial cooperation will be addressed, also through various bilateral meetings. Perhaps not all of us are aware of this, but from the outside we look at Italy as an important country, which can play a role in the future of the countries that are close to us. Or even less close, I am thinking of Georgia which has already applied to join the European Union. In all these matches, it’s a shame to give the idea of ​​a country that is not united on its founding pillars».