«But it doesn’t say anti-fascist republic»- Corriere.it

The controversy over April 25 does not subside, even on the day of the celebration. While the ceremony on the occasion of the Liberation Day was held in Piazza Venezia in the presence of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the words of the letter that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote to Corriere della Sera were circulating in the press agencies: «April 25, 1945 evidently marks a watershed for Italy: the end of the Second World War, of the Nazi occupation, of the Fascist period, of the anti-Jewish persecutions, of the bombings and of many other bereavements and deprivations that have afflicted our national community for a long time. Unfortunately, the same date did not also mark the end of the bloody civil war that had torn the Italian people apart, which in some territories lasted and even divided individual families, overwhelmed by a spiral of hatred that led to summary executions even several months after the end of the conflict. Just as it must be remembered that, while that day millions of Italians returned to savor freedom, for hundreds of thousands of our compatriots from Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia instead a second wave of massacres began and the drama of the exodus from their lands. But the fundamental fruit of April 25 was, and undoubtedly remains, the affirmation of democratic values, which fascism had trampled and which we find engraved in the republican constitution».

April 25, Liberation Day live

The doubts of the center left

The prime minister also wrote that “for many years, and as every honest observer recognizes, the parties representing the right in Parliament have declared their incompatibility with any nostalgia for fascism”, words which, however, were not considered a sufficient stance by the centre-left opposition. «The Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the letter that appeared in today’s Corriere della Sera speaks of April 25 as the feast of Freedom. For us it remains Liberation Day because without the liberation from Nazi-fascism there would have been no freedom – he comments Sandro Ruotolo, head of information, culture, cultures, memory of the Democratic Party– It is therefore evident that there remains a grave reticence which is not overcome by words. If the Italian right has done the math for some time how is it possible that a serial provocateur is still president of the Senate? President Meloni, reiterating her incompatibility with any nostalgia, has not managed to define herself as an anti-fascist this time either ». Senator Pd Marco Meloni underlines the same concept, with a post on Facebook: «Giorgia Meloni in the Corriere della Sera says she has no nostalgia for fascism. And she would be missed. But she fails to say that the Republic is anti-fascist, born of the Resistance. It is no coincidence that the flame that recalls the nefarious fascist dictatorship still burns in the symbol of her party. Long live the Partisans, long live the Resistance. Long live Liberation, long live democratic and anti-fascist Italy. #Happy25th April!». Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s letter to Corriere della Sera in which she hopes that April 25 will be “a moment of rediscovered national harmony”, according to Action leader Carlo Calenda instead it is a “position” on which “we can discuss if different words could have been used” but it is a “good thing” that Meloni acknowledged that “perhaps today an effort must be made by everyone: instead of emphasizing the divisions, try to put them back together.”

“On the things that President Giorgia Meloni says, I hope that the desire that April 25 is truly everyone’s holiday and that anti-fascism is a founding value of our democracy, is an authentic, sincere, genuine desire,” said the mayor of Florence Dario Nardella. The secretary of the PSI Enzo Maraio, participating in the Menoria Path event in Campo del Ghetto Novo Official prayers of the PNA in Venice, instead asked «Giorgia Meloni to pronounce a sentence that for the government, which has yet to come to terms with its ‘roots’ and the history, does not seem to be taken for granted: “Italy is an anti-fascist republic”. The incompatibility of the right with any nostalgia for fascism, affirmed by the premier, “is an almost obvious recognition – he says instead the deputy of Italia Viva Maria Elena Boschi – I hope that the government is less concerned with making controversies about the past and is concerned above all with the future of Italians, and therefore works in the interest of our country. April 25 must really be the feast of all Italians ». Very hard Maurizio Acerbo, leader of PRC: «Even today Giorgia Meloni, with a long article in the Corriere, demonstrates that the Italian right remains heir to the fascists. He doesn’t use the word Liberation because it wasn’t for the fascists like Giorgio Almirante who gave life to the MSI. Evidently it is not for the Brothers of Italy and the right as a whole ».

Urso: “We all recognize each other in Meloni’s letter”

On the other hand, the letter from Meloni, the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, appreciates Adolfo Urso, who this morning took part in the ceremony at Porta San Paolo organized by the Jewish community of Rome. “I think all of us Italians recognize ourselves in the letter that Giorgia Meloni wrote to Corriere della Sera, in the values ​​it expresses and in the request for unity in the country that must be manifested in this celebration of freedom”. For Urso, today “is the celebration of freedom, in which Italians have rediscovered freedom and of all those who, like us, recognize themselves in the values ​​of the Constitution”. From Lecce the Minister for European Affairs, Cohesion Policies and the Pnrr, Raffaele Fitto, on the sidelines of the ceremony for the Liberation Day held in Piazza Partigiani, underlined: «It seems to me that the position we have always represented on April 25 goes in the direction of uniting and not dividing. Giorgia Meloni’s words in the Corriere della Sera and my presence here and that of Undersecretary Mantovano are a clear signal in this direction». Mantovano adds: «The presence of Government representatives in almost all the squares of Italian cities and that of the Prime Minister at the altar of the Fatherland testifies to the fact that April 25 is a celebration for all in which all are called to recognize each other without exploitation”.

«Today is the feast of freedom for all – reiterates the president of the senators of the Brothers of Italy, Lucio Malan- On 25 April, as Prime Minister Meloni reaffirmed, the democratic values ​​and principles that fascism had suppressed and which are engraved in the Constitution, in which everyone’s rights and freedom are guaranteed, were affirmed”. also the president of the Jewish community of Rome, Ruth Dureghello, emphasizing that there is «an effort on the part of everyone to unite. April 25 belongs to everyone», added Dureghello, also commenting on the words of the president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa in recent days: «I think we must be here to preside over and prevent any departure from the original values. I don’t think this is present in the institutions today but we are here to claim that we will preside”.

Alessia Ambrosi, Trentino deputy of the Brothers of Italy, before participating in the celebrations for April 25 in Trento hopes “it will finally be a beautiful day of unifying celebration in the name of freedom, a fundamental heritage of all and all not”. Giorgia Meloni’s words “are fundamental to keeping our nation united on an important date like today’s which puts the values ​​of democracy and freedom back at the center that had been trampled on during fascism” for the deputy of the Brothers of Italy Giovanni Donzelli. While the political leader of Noi Moderati, Maurizio Lupispeaks of a speech “worthy of the role of Prime Minister, words that celebrate national unity, the values ​​of the Constitution and democracy, put an end to the cloying and specious controversies of these days and renew Italy’s commitment to defense of freedom”.

The controversies of these days? «I think – he said Undersecretary of the Interior Wanda Ferro – do not serve to unite, do not serve the country and above all, often, tend to damage those who currently represent the majority of the country at the behest of the voters when we have clearly stated what our opinion is on all authoritarian regimes”. Rachele Mussolini, city councilor in Rome for Fdi, finally admits that he does not celebrate this holiday, while respecting it, but underlines: “We need to put a point and turn the page: in the face of sterile controversies that are renewed every year, I continue to hope for reconciliation”. “Even because of my surname – he concludes – I live with it, for better or for worse, with the best possible dignity, and I have always tried to keep away from controversy”.