What did Alcide De Gasperi and Bettino Craxi have in common?
Who was there and what was said at the event "Italy and Euro-Atlantic relations, from De Gasperi to Craxi". Paola Sacchi's article
What did Alcide De Gasperi and Bettino Craxi have in common? The Atlantic Alliance without ifs and buts, the choice of the West. "Loyalty and autonomy, but always on the Euro-Atlantic axis", said the director general of the Craxi Foundation , Nicola Carnovale, at the Center for American Studies in Rome, introducing the conference held yesterday together with the De Gasperi Foundation, of which the former foreign minister, Angelino Alfano, is president, on the policies of the two statesmen of the DC and the PSI.
"Italy and Euro-Atlantic relations, from De Gasperi to Craxi" is the topic discussed by Margherita Boniver, president of the Craxi Foundation, Paolo Alli, general secretary of the De Gasperi Foundation, Giovanni Orsina, president of the historical-scientific committee of the Craxi Foundation, the scholars Daniela Preda, Ida Nicotra, Francesco Bonini, Leopoldo Nuti, Niccolò Petrelli, Maria Elena Cavallaro, Antonio Varsori. Theme then addressed in a round table, coordinated by Flavia Giacobbe di Formiche , by Alfano, Stefania Craxi, the ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, senator of FdI, president of the Commission for European policies, the former Minister of Economy Giulio Tremonti, deputy of FdI, president of the Foreign Affairs commission, Alessandro Minuto Rizzo, former interim general secretary of NATO.
De Gasperi and the fundamental dates, starting with the trip to the USA, from which he returned with the first funds from the Marshall Plan, and with the pride of having seen the Italian flag hoisted again at the White House, is remembered by Alfano. Who with the scholars of his Foundation underlines the Euro-Atlantic policy declined by the DC statesman towards European integration, in the direction of a peaceful community and not just an Atlantic alliance, with the creation of that common European defense that has not yet been implemented, which has encountered obstacles in France, and which the United States has always taken charge of. Boniver speaks of Craxi's "L'Amerikano", who brought the PSI out of a substantially neutralist policy with the choice of the Euromissiles in Comiso, who also recalls the contemporary policy of autonomy and national sovereignty of Italy in loyalty to the clear choice atlantic. The issue of Euro-Atlantic relations has returned to the fore with Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
“The Americans were right against the enemy power of the communists, of the Soviet Union. Transatlantic relations have been crucial for our country since the end of the Second World War: we made the choice, we belong to the West, we made it in 1945 and we reiterated it during the Cold War years. Today more than ever the choice to be West is the beacon of Italian foreign policy in the context of European and transatlantic relations
It is now necessary to strengthen the banks of deterrence ”, points out Stefania Craxi, senator of Forza Italia, president of the Foreign Affairs and Defense commission of Palazzo Madama. Who on Russia's "infamous aggression against Ukraine" observes: "If Putin didn't want NATO to arrive at Russia's gates, here is now the Atlantic Alliance, with the choices of Sweden and Finland, has extended by another 1,200 kilometres" .
As for the centrality of the Euro-Atlantic policy aimed at the Mediterranean, Craxi observes: “We are moving in this direction. Unfortunately with delay on questions that Bettino Craxi had raised thirty years ago.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/craxi-de-gasperi-occidente/ on Fri, 26 May 2023 05:49:03 +0000.