At the end of last week, unidentified extremists desecrated a memorial in Bazovica with the inscription “Trieste is ours. Death to fascism, freedom to the nation”. The slogans, survivors of communism, provoked a strong reaction from the Italian political top. Prime Minister Meloni pointed out that this act “must not go unpunished”.
“The Foiba in Bazovica is a sacred place, a national monument to be venerated in silence and prayer. To dishonour Bazovica, especially with disgusting inscriptions that recall the tragic pages of our history, is not only to trample on the memory of the martyrs of the foiba, it is to desecrate the whole nation. What has happened is an extremely serious act that must not go unpunished,” wrote Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in response to the desecration of the monument with graffiti.
The vandalisation of the monument was also condemned by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who wrote that it was an insult to the memory of those brutally murdered solely on the basis of their nationality. He believes that the inscription undermines dialogue between peoples who want a peaceful future.
The incident took place before Monday’s commemoration of the foiba and the exodus of Italians from Istria, Rijeka and Dalmatia. The area where Monday’s commemoration took place was the scene of inter- and post-war massacres by communist forces, and before that, of fascist violence against the local population, and assimilationist coercion.
The political analyst and activist Tomaž Štih, who goes by the alias “Libertarec” (Libertarian) on the social network X, responded to the Italian Prime Minister’s statement.
“This inhuman vandalism was not committed by Slovenians, but by socialists. Both you, as well as we, are victims of an evil Titoist ideology that is poisoning relations between our two nations. Unfortunately, the socialists control 97 percent of the media in Slovenia, and with the help of the courts, which have never been reformed since communist times, they abuse power in our country. They are now trying for the third time to jail the leader of the opposition before the elections,” he wrote.
Former minister Dr Žiga Turk also responded to what happened, writing: “It was not in vain that Pahor and Mattarella repented each for the crimes of their side.”
Will the Golob government de-escalate the situation?
The government of Robert Golob was brought to power by the very political forces that often appear under the slogans that were used to desecrate the monument in Bazovica. Golob himself showed his allegiance to these forces when he expressed his concern about the possibility of Meloni taking power. Later, he briefly forgot about this and happily embraced her in Rome.
“It’s funny to note that in the European Parliament, Meloni voted in favour of a resolution condemning the three dictatorships of the 20th century: fascism, Nazism and communism, but her Slovenian left-wing colleagues couldn’t do it,” Damijan Terpin, a Slovenian lawyer living in Italy, recalled on the social network X some time ago. Meloni is also known for her statement that “Fascism is dead and irrelevant to the present”.
However, the left-wing political forces in Slovenia, led by Robert Golob, are not (yet) capable of a comprehensive condemnation of all three criminal ideologies. They have no problem condemning fascism and Nazism, but they do not want to condemn communism. What is more, almost immediately after coming to power, Robert Golob’s government abolished the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communist Violence. The question therefore arises as to whether the government will be able to condemn the vile desecration committed by domestic extremists.
We have sent a press inquiry about the matter to the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will publish their responses as soon as we receive them.
Ž. K.
