Tajani under fire for Mussolini comments

'If we must be honest, he built roads, bridges, buildings,' European Parliament president reported as saying.

“I'm not a fascist, I have never been a fascist and I don't share his political thought, but if we must be honest, he built roads, bridges, buildings ... he reclaimed many parts of our Italy," Tajani was reported as saying | Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, was criticized Wednesday for reportedly saying that Benito Mussolini did “positive things” for Italy.

Italian media reported on an interview Tajani gave to popular radio show “La Zanzara” (the Mosquito), quoting him as saying: “Mussolini? Until he declared war against the whole world following Hitler, until he promoted racial laws [against Jews], apart from the dramatic event of [Giacomo] Matteotti [an opponent killed by the regime], he did positive things to realize infrastructures in our country.”

“One must be objective,” Tajani was reported as saying. “I’m not a fascist, I have never been a fascist and I don’t share his political thought, but if we must be honest, he built roads, bridges, buildings … he reclaimed many parts of our Italy.”

The “wrong things are very serious: Matteotti, racial laws, war. These are all unacceptable things” he also said.

Tajani reacted to the criticism on Twitter, saying: “Shame on those who manipulate what I’ve allegedly said on fascism. I’ve always been a convinced anti-fascist, I will not allow anyone to suggest otherwise. The fascist dictatorship, racial laws and deaths it caused are the darkest page in Italian and European history.”

But opponents were not impressed.

Udo Bullmann, the leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, said Tajani’s words are “unbelievable.” On Twitter he added: “How can a President of the European Parliament fail to acknowledge the nature of fascism? We need swift clarification.”

Lynn Boylan, an MEP from Ireland’s Sinn Féin, wrote on Twitter that Mussolini “may be responsible for 430,000+ murders but hey check out his roads and bridges! Seriously this is the President of the EU Parliament.”

Tajani was also in hot water last month, with Slovenian and Croatian leaders condemning him for remarks seen as suggesting an Italian claim on their territory.

At a commemoration of a World War II massacre that took place on the border between Italy and Slovenia, Tajani declared near the city of Trieste: “Long live Trieste, long live Italian Istria, long live Italian Dalmatia, long live Italian exiles.” The region of Istria includes parts of present-day Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. Dalmatia forms part of Croatia. Both areas were occupied by Italian fascists during World War II.

Tonino Picula, a Socialist MEP from Croatia, claimed a link between the two episodes. “Antonio Tajani’s recent invocation of ‘Italian Istria and Dalmatia’ is clearly not an isolated incident but a political platform” he said on Twitter on Wednesday.

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