Croatia and Slovenia protest Tajani’s ‘revisionist’ remarks

Antonio Tajani

ROME - Croatia and Slovenia challenged Tuesday the “revisionist” comments made by the Italian President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the Foibe, the crevasses into which Italians were thrown by Yugoslav Communist partisans in the Second World War.

 The commemoration of the victims of the Foibe massacres has brought about much controversy after Tajani declared, “Long live Istria and Italian Dalmatia,” and “long live those who defend the values ​​of our country.” It is these statements that have triggered objections from Croatia and Slovenia.

 The governments of Ljubljana and Zagreb officially protested, and the President of Slovenia Borut Pahor also sent a letter of clarification to the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella.

 In his message, Pahor expressed “concern about the unacceptable statements by high-level representatives of the Italian Republic on the occasion of the commemoration of the victims of the sinkholes who want to create the impression that it was an ethnic cleansing.”

 “It is not the first time that the statements of some Italian politicians are rousing indignation and concern in Slovenia, but the use of disturbing rhetoric is worrying in a period when Italy and Slovenia must defend the common European project from the many challenges,” added Pahor.

 Referring to the reference to “Italian Istria and Dalmatia”, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic declared, “I express my firm condemnation and strongly reject the statements of Tajani containing elements of territorial and historical revisionism.”

 The Croatian Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric also condemned Tajani’s statement as “unacceptable historical revisionism, especially because it comes from a senior official representing the European Parliament", one of the EU institutions, which, she recalled, “was founded with the intention that wars are never repeated in Europe.”

 For Pejcinovic Buric such words can only benefit those who want a different Europe from the one that has always been built by the EU. “They are opposed to the spirit of reconciliation, of coexistence and of all the values ​​of the civilization on which the EU was built,”she said.

 The Slovenian Prime Minister also Marjan Šarec condemned Tajani’s words, describing them as an expression of an “unprecedented historical revisionism.” “Fascism was a fact, and was intended to destroy the Slovenian people,” wrote Šarec on Twitter.

 After this immense backlash, Tajani clarified the meaning of his statements. He responded to the controversy saying, “I am sorry if the meaning of my words has been misinterpreted. It was not my intention to offend anyone. I just wanted to send a message of peace among people, so that what happened then will never be repeated.”

 “I wanted to emphasise the path of peace and reconciliation between the Italian, Croatian and Slovenian people and their contribution to the European project. My reference to Italian Istria and Dalmatia was in no way a territorial claim,” said Tajani. "With my presence I wanted to remember the thousands of victims, mainly Italian, but also Croatian and Slovenian, of what should be considered one of the most brutal tragedies of the last century,” he concluded.