Croatia firmly condemned the
inauguration Thursday of a statue of poet, airman and
proto-Fascist military adventurer Gabriele D'Annunzio on the
100th anniversary of his occupation of Fiume or Rijeka in 1919.
Croatia handed a note to the Italian ambassador in Zagreb
condemning the statue "in the strongest terms".
It said this inauguration had happened "exactly on the day
that marks the centenary of the occupation of Rijeka".
According to a Croatian foreign ministry communique sent to
ANSA, the act "contributes to disrupting the relations of
friendship and good neighbourliness between the two countries".
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic also firmly
condemned the "inauguration of the scandalous statue of
discord".
She said Italo-Croatian relations were founded today "on
values that are totally in contrast with (the actions of) the
man to whom the scandalous statue has been dedicated".
The statue "celebrates Irredentism and the occupation of
Rijeka, which was and will remain a proud part of its Croatian
homeland".
D'Annunzio, a larger than life figure who became a legend in
his time, seems to have tried to do almost everything to excess.
He had countless love affairs, including a fiery relationship
with the world-famous actress Eleanora Duse, took part in duels,
committed heroic feats in World War I and occupied Fiume (now
Rijeka) in 1919. Later he supported Fascist political ideas but
was progressively sidelined by Mussolini.
An accomplished poet, novelist and dramatist who in his works
combined naturalism, symbolism, and erotic images, he was
considered the best interpreter of European Decadence in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Trieste Mayor Roberto Dipiazza, of ex-premier Silvio
Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia party, said that "with
this statue we recall a great Italian who I think deserves a
statue in Trieste".
D'Annunzio foundation head and rightwing thinker Giordano
Bruno Guerri said "he was a man of peace and stands alongside
Svevo, Joyce and Saba very well".
A Kingdom of Italy flag was flown in front of the Palazzo del
Governatorato in Trieste last night by what Croatian media a
group of "Italian neoFascists".
Police in Rijeka arrested two Italians aged 19 and 20 with
another Kingdom of Italy flag.
The Kingdom of Italy lasted from unification in 1861 to the
postwar referendum that abolished the monarchy and ushered in
the Italian republic in 1946.
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