

Borsa Square in Trieste. Photo: Wikipedia/Diego Delso.

The Croatian Foreign Ministry on Thursday delivered a protest note to Italy over the erection in Trieste of a monument to Gabriele D’Annunzio, the Italian poet widely perceived as a forerunner of Italian Fascism.

Croatia has a particular concern about the poet and his legacy, as he and a group of rebel Italian soldiers occupied the city of Rijeka – which both Yugoslavia and Italy claimed at the end of World War I – on September 12, 1919.

“Although it is a decision of local and not state authorities, such a manner, as well as marking the anniversary of the occupation of Rijeka in several other Italian cities, not only undermines the friendly and neighborly relations between the two countries but also acknowledges an ideology and actions that are in deep opposition to European values,” the Croatian ministry said in a press release on Thursday.

On Thursday at noon at Borsa Square in Trieste, city mayor Roberto Dipiazza held a ceremony unveiling the statue of D’Annunzio, who was born in 1863 and died in 1938.

Meanwhile, during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, some unknown perpetrators hung an Italian flag on the Governor’s Palace in Rijeka, which had served as D’Annunzio’s residence during the occupation.

Croatian police came to the scene and removed the flag. Police told the media that it was a historical flag of the Kingdom of Italy, not the contemporary Italian flag. They said other items were also found, such as leaflets, but did not reveal what was written on them.

Police also said that they had detained two Italian nationals, aged 19 and 20, who were in front of the Governor’s Palace on Thursday morning, carrying smaller flags.

In the last half of the 19th century, while Rijeka was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was known by the Italian name of Fiume.

With the end of World War I, Italy and the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes [later Yugoslavia] both laid claim to it.

Una bandiera italiana a #Fiume. Nel centenario dell’impresa di D’Annunzio, tornano gli “Idraulici” con un omaggio agli italiani che non si arrendono a governi scialbi e deboli. Come quello attuale… Ne parlo su @ilgiornale https://t.co/GQ33SObPeX pic.twitter.com/OKePcbp31B — Cristiano Puglisi (@CristianoPuglis) September 12, 2019

In 1920, Italy and Yugoslavia concluded the Treaty of Rapallo, by which Rijeka was declared a Free State. But four years later, Rijeka was annexed by Mussolini’s Italy, while the neighbouring suburb of Susak was assigned to Yugoslavia.

After World War 2, Rijeka and the rest of Istria became part of the new federal Yugoslavia, most of Istria going to Croatia while a smaller slice went to Slovenia.

Italian nationalists have never been entirely reconciled to the loss of Istria – or of Croatian Dalmatia, which Italy also once claimed.

In February this year, the Italian President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, caused shock when he declared: “Long live Trieste! Long live Italian Istria! Long live Italian Dalmatia!” at a ceremony honouring victims of the Yugoslav Partisans’ brief reign over Trieste. As BIRN reported, this sparked many reactions in Croatia.

After being accused of reviving Italian territorial claims to Croatian and Slovenian land, Tajani expressed regret for the statement.