Italian politics can seem bewildering and distant to many people in Britain, but yet the recent actions of Italian coalition government formed by “The Freedom Party” and led by the countries PM and financial tycoon Silvio Berlusconi needs to be examined and publicised.
Because fascism and extremism is returning to Italy, with the full knowledge of this government.
The Freedom Party gained power in 2008 with a coalition of far right extremist political parties, and these fringe extremist parties are now making their presence felt.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Milan, where they hold the majority in local government and municipal and county control.
This is how a member of an Italian anti-fascist organisation describes the situation:
“The Italian extreme right wing organisations involved are different groups; all have been recently officially admitted to be part or partner of the Berlusconi's party called PDL/Partito delle Liberta – so-called "freedom's party", the Italian national and local government of Berlusconi is doing nothing against those groups.
Their ideology and neo-Nazi symbols and Celtic crosses are spreading and so is their violence.
In the last 2 years Italy has experienced many dangerous attacks to its democratic process and has seen an escalation in the support of fascist ideology and xenophobic violence against minorities: migrants, Roma people, GLBT communities.
In recent times, both for economical and political reasons, Berlusconi's government has been showing signs of evolving into an authoritarian government which is causing growing alarm for the Italian people and their democracy.”
Already a number of neo-Nazi and fascist events have occurred this year which were full of neo-Nazi and white power symbolism and were openly supported by members of the local government. Even though they were widely publicised and persons of news worthy stature attended, no national media organisation reported on the events.
And there is more to come:
- there is a national Italian neo-fascist demonstration scheduled in Milan on 22nd May organized by Forza Nuova and its leader Roberto Fiore in which there will also be European delegations from Spanish and French neo-Nazis. Hungarian Nazi-extreme-right-wing Jobbik’s leader Laszlo Toroczkai will also be attending
- the European neo-Nazi convention, so-called "European Hammerfest 1990-2010, 20 years of European Brotherhood" is scheduled in Milan on 29th May, 2010.
The Italian anti-Racists/anti-Fascists organisations are calling out for international help and support to make people aware of what is occurring in their country with the full knowledge of their government.
It is already widely accepted that the Italian government is paying little attention to attacks on ethnic minorities and the situation appears to be getting a lot worse now that these extreme far right groups are in positions of power.
We urge everybody to contact their local MEPs about these alarming developments, and ask them to voice our/your concerns at what is occurring.
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In 2008 a event occurred that highlights the growing racism in that country. This video demonstrates Italy's racism and how the populous are now becoming indifferent to extremist acts..
