Loud applause, emotion, and tears from some citizens greeted the procession commemorating the massacre of August 2, 1980, at Bologna station, in which 85 people died and 200 were injured.
In the front row, behind the banners, the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini , the mayor of Bologna, Matteo Lepore , the president of the Region, Michele de Pascale .
Among others, the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein , also took part in the demonstration.
On the occasion of the day of commemoration of the victims, a message also arrived from the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella : "The Bologna station massacre has left an indelible mark of inhumanity on the identity of Italy, caused by a ruthless neo-fascist subversive strategy that aimed to strike at constitutional values , social achievements and, with them, our very civil coexistence", stated the Head of State.
Paolo Bolognesi, president of the August 2nd Association , addressed Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni from the stage at Bologna's train station: "To the Prime Minister, who has accused us of wanting to expose her to retaliation, by remembering the past from which she comes, as well as the past from which the perpetrators of the massacres come, we want to say that respect for institutions is one thing, but accepting self-interested rewritings of history is another, something we are in no way willing to allow. " "Condemning the Bologna massacre without acknowledging and condemning its fascist roots is like condemning the fruit of a poisonous plant, while continuing to water its roots," Bolognesi added.
During the speeches, there was no shortage of criticism, both against Minister Bernini and the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa.
" I reject any connection between the horror of the massacre and current events or the current government," Bernini stated, "without any ifs or buts."
(Unioneonline)