A group of activists in the youth
wing of Premier Giorgia Meloni's rightwing Brothers of Italy
(FDI) party, National Youth (GN), have been accused by members
of the municipal government of illicitly entering Bologna's City
Hall when it was closed to lay a wreath of flowers ahead of the
commemoration of the Foibe massacres, after organizing a
demonstration.
The municipality said the initiative occurred on Sunday night
"without any prior agreement" with the administration.
They also accused some members of the Brothers of Italy (FdI)
party in the municipal government, as well as FdI Lower House
whip Galeazzo Bignami, among others, of letting them in.
Bologna Mayor Matteo Lepore denounced the incident as
"unacceptable", confirming that the group of militants entered
City Hall "without authorization" after a demonstration to
commemorate the Foibe massacres, the mass killings and
deportations by Tito's Yugoslav Partisans of Italians living in
the area that stretches from the Trieste zone in Italy's Friuli
Venezia Giulia region across the Istrian peninsula to Dalmatia
in Croatia during and immediately after WWII.
"The members of Brothers of Italy will need to explain their
presence and their role as facilitators", said Lepore,
mentioning among others "several members of Brothers of Italy,
from lawmaker Bignami, to MEP (Stefano) Cavedagna, to regional
councillor (Francesco) Sassone, together with municipal
councillor (Manuela) Zuntini".
Lepore said he will file a complaint over the incident.
Italy on Monday is marking the Day of Remembrance for the Foibe,
the massacre of the thousands of Italians by Tito's partisans in
ethnic cleansing at the end of WWII.
It is estimated that as many as 15,000 Italians largely, but not
always, identified with Fascism were tortured or killed by
Yugoslav communists who occupied the Istrian peninsula during
the last two years of the war.
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