Chi gioca all’irredentismo del terzo millennio e perché

Un’intervista a Nicoletta Bourbaki

Su Balkan Insight nei giorni scorsi è uscito un articolo dal titolo Italian Poet’s Century-Old Bid for Croatian Lands Still Resonates (qui l’anteprima dell’articolo, la versione completa è accessibile solo attraverso il paywall), che propone una riflessione sulle tendenze del neo-nazionalismo italiano a partire dal centenario della cosiddetta “impresa di Fiume” guidata da Gabriele D’Annunzio.

Per la stesura dell’articolo, Anja Vladisavljević ha intervistato Nicoletta Bourbaki. I nostri virgolettati sono parte di un ragionamento più vasto che, ovviamente, non poteva stare nei confini di un articolo dal focus meno specifico, i cui punti di vista e giudizi non sono necessariamente i nostri.

Condividiamo qui le nostre risposte originali per esporre il nostro ragionamento su neofascismo, neo-irredentismo e manipolazione della storia a partire dall’ennesimo incidente diplomatico scoppiato tra Italia e Croazia il mese scorso. Incidente che all’estero ha avuto molta più risonanza che in Italia, come vedremo anche prossimamente.

Buona lettura.

Which ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist groups are the strongest in Italy, what are their goals and targets? How do these groups work and what is their reach, influence etc.?

Though they have acted as political parties on some occasions, Casa Pound and Forza Nuova are not parliamentary organizations, but are probably the largest formations in a complex of far-right groups spread all over the country. It is a galaxy of political groups that include also fake humanitarian organizations for the assistance to the poor or the defense of animal rights, religious-inspired groups in defense of traditional families and football supporters besides various economic and commercial activities. All of these groups constantly strive to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the public opinion.

Fratelli d’Italia is the heir of the Movimento Sociale Italiano, which in turn was the organization under whose name the fascist party in disguise re-formed in Italy after WWII. Salvini’s Lega, formerly Lega Nord, that was in power until mid August, has always promoted a strong stance against immigration and has maintained relationships with far-right groups. The relations between Casa Pound and Salvini’s Lega are notorious, but it must be noted that also the self-proclaimed “Italian left”, namely the Democratic Party, has been known for not disciplining its members for attending events that were organized by Casa Pound, allegedly in the name of a misinterpreted idea of freedom of expression, but actually cajoling right wing voters. This is probably due to the fact that in Italy there has never been a public critical debate about the crimes of fascism and the cultural consequences of twenty years of fascist regime have never been disputed.

Some of these movements have launched several actions (Last year CasaPound announced a concert in Rijeka for the centenary of Italy’s victory in WWI, they are raising banners across Italy to celebrate D’Annunzio which is in Croatia perceived as occupier of Rijeka, etc) showing aspirations to the territory of Istria, Rijeka and Dalmatia? Why it matters to them and what effect it has?

This is an immediate consequence of the afore mentioned lack of a critical debate on fascism: declaring these territorial aspirations matters in terms of evoking myths in the political debate, although the actual result is uncertain.

From time to time, right wing groups and parties raise nationalistic ambitions regarding Istria, Rijeka and Dalmatia, sometimes in an effort to reawaken nationalist feelings among the Italian community in Istria in times of elections, or during the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, when two far-right Italian political representative, Gianfranco Fini and Roberto Menia, approached some Serbian factions to negotiate the possibility of an Italian intervention in Dalmatia. However, broadly speaking, these ambitions have a mythopoetic intent aimed at projecting those who use them onto the terrain of moderate public opinion, where they wish to play the part of the “good patriot” that defended the sacred Italian northeastern border from the invasion of the Slavic-communist barbarians. Please note that the term Slavic communist actually exists in Italian and it is obviously used in a derogatory way.

In our debunking work of the entries on 20th century history in the Italian Wikipedia, we have clearly observed the inevitable connection between far-right extremists and well-meaning contributors who consider themselves to be moderate and democratic. This mutual convergence is inevitable since it aims at acquitting Italy of its historical mistakes and seeks to reaffirm the image of the “good Italian fellow” squeezed between the “ruthless German” and the “communist Slav”.

With regard to the actual impact of these issues, it must be said that it is not easy to evaluate it, but an episode you mentioned is a clear example of the impact that these organizations have on the Italian society. Last year Casa Pound launched a national demonstration in Trieste to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the so-called “victory” in the First world war. This announcement was immediately confronted by an anti-fascist network of different groups and organizations under the name “Trieste Antifascista” which announced a counter-demonstration on a local level. Long story short, the “national” Casa Pound demo was a failure attended by barely a thousand people who arrived by bus from all over Italy, while the “local” anti-fascist demo gathered about ten thousand people, mainly from Trieste and the surrounding region, including many Slovenian and Croatian participants. Casa Pound’s announcement of a concert in Rijeka on the same night was clearly an aborted provocation and a fake: the concert took place in an anonymous ballroom in the suburbs of Trieste and was attended by a few dozens of young males escorted by the Italian police.

This does not mean that certain provocations, such as that of the “plumbers”, should be underestimated, especially when viewed against the background of the current xenophobic wave that runs through Europe and beyond. One of the supporters of the Rijeka initiative is Fabrizio Fratus, who used to be the personal secretary of Daniela Santanché, a member of the Senate of the Republic for Fratelli d’Italia. Fratus manages the blog «Il Talebano» together with Vincenzo Sofo, who is considered to be one of the architects of the nationalistic turn taken by Salvini’s Lega and is also Marion Maréchal-Le Pen’s fiancé, Front Nationale’s leader, Marine Le Pen, niece. Both Fratus and Sofo, together with Lorenzo Fiato of Generazione Identitaria (a fascist group involved in several aggressions against foreigners), in 2015 attended a meeting promoted by Mario Borghezio, who is a member of the European Parliament and belongs to Salvini’s Lega. The meeting was intended to discuss and launch the idea of a «national league».

There is always something to worry about when those blowing on the fire of hatred and racism try to use history to build myths for their use and consumption.