Erika Malandra Pierluigi Battista, former deputy director of the Corriere della Sera, expressed in an interview with Hoara Borselli a position and a interesting point of view on Giorgia's words Meloni and Manifesto of Ventotene.
Ventotene Manifesto: What Meloni Said and New Points of View
Battista, while declaring himself a “sincere liberal” and with great respect for Spinelli and Rossi, maintains his point of view that the manifesto is not as many believe.
It is not a simple hymn to Europe, but a document that describes a much more radical project.
According to Battista, the Manifesto does not speak of a Europe united at all costs, but of a “superstate” that would abolish national states, led by a “revolutionary dictatorship”. This government would be formed by an elite, which would have attributed to itself the right to decide for everyone, without ever asking the opinion of the people.
These sentences must obviously be contextualized: when the Manifesto was written, in 1941, Europe was overwhelmed by the Second World War and Italy was living under the fascist regime, a context that made a radical reflection on the future of Europe and the nation states necessary, it should not be surprising if today there are many points of view on the illustrious Manifesto of Ventotene.
What Meloni Said, the Ventotene Manifesto: Why Her Words Are Important
In his speech to the House, Giorgia Meloni he responded firmly to these visions, declaring: “I do not know if this is your Europe, but it is certainly not mine”. Raising his voice, he chose to conclude his reply with a series of quotes from the Manifesto written in 1941, underlining the contrast between those ideologies and his conception of a Europe closer to democratic principles and popular participation.
Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly opposed any form of elitism that could limit direct or popular democracy.
Today, however, Europe seems to ignore the Ventotene model. Battista observes that many young politicians do not know history and, above all, do not understand the political dynamics of 1941, when the USSR was Hitler's ally and Churchill was the only one to oppose Nazism. These errors of historical knowledge fuel the current chaos around Ventotene.