Author: Lillian Pianin

Italy Freedoms Compared

November 24, 2018 / Lillian Pianin / 2 Comments

Part A:

Italy is a relatively free country in regards to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. When Italy rewrote their constitution in the 1940s after Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship, those in charge made sure that censorship would have no place in the media in Italy. Although Italy guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press, the country is still scarred from Mussolini’s rise and immediately after fascism ended the piazza that Mussolini used to hold rallies in became deserted and turned into a parking lot. Now the piazza, Piazza Venezia, is a roundabout so that no rallies may ever take place there again. Clearly, the Italian people were impacted by Mussolini and the fascist period so although they constitutionally allow free speech, there are rules in place to ensure a Mussolini-esque leader never rises in Italy again.

Italy has followed France and Germany recently and implemented a law to combat Holocaust denial. This law was adopted in 2016, a lot later than many of the other countries that have come up with laws to punish those who deny the Holocaust but it is still a historical law to come about in Italian politics. During World War II, Italy was allied with Germany and allowed for thousands of Jewish people to be rounded up all over the country. So, Italy played a part in the Holocaust under Mussolini and therefore has taken a stricter stance on hate speech than other countries. This new legislation modifies an existing law that already punishes propaganda and incitement to violence on racist, ethnic or religious grounds. The old law also targets those who deny the existence of genocide or crimes against humanity as defined by the International Court of Justice. The law passed in 2016 adds to this law and will give prison sentences of up to six years for spreading Holocaust-denial propaganda. This law is a huge step in the right direction for Italy and helps to curb hate speech. Although some may think it is too heavy on censorship, many also believe this new legislation will help to prevent neo-fascist groups from popping up in Italy. Because this law is fairly recent, there is not a lot of data so far on its effectiveness but nonetheless, it is a step in the right direction.

Part B:

Italy’s relationship with Russia goes back to Mussolini and Stalin and has continued to evolve since these leaders were in power. After World War II, Italy and Russia, then the USSR, restored full diplomatic relations in October of 1944. Russia and Italy have always had a close relationship, as Italy is one of Russia’s most important economic partners.

Recently, Italy has become a lot closer with Russia especially with the current political climate in Italy that has been leaning more conservative since the recent election. Silvio Berlusconi was Prime Minister multiple times in Italy and his government in the 2000s heightened the relationship between Italy and Russia due to personal ties between Berlusconi and Putin. Due to this relationship, Russia has had a privileged relationship with Italy.

Italy has clashed with the EU recently by vetoing to renew the sanctions against Russia. Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, is pro-Moscow and believes that the sanctions against Russia are economically and socially hurting Italy and costing Italians billions of euros. Salvini is the head of the Northern League, the part that won the last election in Italy and although Italy may have been against the sanctions towards Russia for a long time this staunchly pro-Russian leader demonstrates yet another change in Italian politics in recent years. The Northern League won the majority in Italy’s most recent elections and it is not a coincidence that in 2017, Putin’s party signed a deal with the Northern League in order to strengthen political cooperation. Many worry that Russia used fake news to impede in Italy’s last election and political leaders such as the former Prime Minister and Joe Biden called Russia out on potentially helping the Northern League and Five Star Movement and influencing electoral outcomes. Whatever the case may be, Italy has become increasingly closer to Russia and that includes Russia’s role in Italian politics.

Bleich, Erik. The Freedom to Be Racist?: How the United States and Europe Struggle to Preserve Freedom and Combat Racism. Oxford University Press, 2011.

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/italy

https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/holocaust-denial-law-adopted-in-italy-1.5393802

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1036518/russia-news-italy-guiseppe-conte-vladimir-putin-US-sanctions

https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Italy-Responding-to-%E2%80%98hate-speech%E2%80%99_3.4.pdf

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/17/italy-risks-clash-britain-eu-threatens-veto-renewal-russia-sanctions/

Italy and Foreign Policy

October 23, 2018 / Lillian Pianin / 2 Comments

Italy, France, and Spain

In many ways, Italy has followed the lead of Spain and France in foreign policy. Both Spain and Italy’s first measures after emerging from a fascist dictatorship were to rejoin the European Community ie the European Union. Italy and Spain also share similarities in that they are both Catholic countries and are therefore more conservative than other countries in the European Union. Italy, Spain, and France are all a part of the Schengen Agreement which eliminated passport controls between its European member states and mandated rigorous controls for persons arriving from non-member states. But, Italy is most similar in foreign policy to France and their more nationalist take on foreign policy.

Italy is similar to France in foreign policy because France’s foreign policy is more nationalistic and central to the French identity which is what Italy has been following lately, especially with current events surrounding migration. Spain is also located in the Mediterranean region so it shares similar interests of migration with Italy. Spain is not as xenophobic as Italy due to the fact that the fascist dictatorship of Franco is more present in the minds of Spanish than the fascist dictatorship in Italy that ended 20 years earlier than Franco’s. But, Spain could become more nationalist in the future if it continues down a path many European nations are taking.

Italy has recently been more focused on state sovereignty in terms of migration policy and wants EU policy to benefit their own state needs of migration more than the EU as a whole. This is similar to France’s approach of nationalism in foreign policy and the fact that the country wants to look after its own interest. After Italy democratized in the 1950s, it was mostly focused on the European Community and not as much on foreign policy until quite recently. Until the 1980s, Italy was a country of emigration which then changed by the 1990s when economic growth transformed the country into a host country for migrants. Due to this new status and more migrants arriving in Italy, racism emerged in the country and the Italian government began taking a more nationalistic approach to foreign policy. This recent change in foreign policy also demonstrates how Italy has been working with the EU and it’s institutions recently.

2. Italy and Migration Policy

Italy has always played a role in EU institutions since it has been a member state since the inception of the EU and the European Community. An Italian has been President of the Council of the EU twelve times since 1959 with the most recent presidency being in 2014. So, Italy has always been involved in the functions of the European Union and its institutions.

Italy is located on the Mediterranean so it plays a large part on the frontier aspect in migration, especially as it is part of the Schengen agreement. Italy has recently had many issues with migration especially concerning the European migration crisis that is still ongoing. Italy has been looking out for itself more in foreign policy because they do not want more migrants coming into Italy. Italy has threatened the European Commission to withhold funding from the EU if other member states do no accept migrants. The Commission says. “The EU operates on rules, not threats” (CNN) and that Italy and the EU must work constructively to fix this issue. The migration crisis has hit Italy especially hard so it is making threats instead of working with the institutions to try to get a deal with other member states. This demonstrates how tensions have been rising between Italy and EU institutions, specifically the European Commission in order to come to a consensus.

The Italian government has also had tensions with the EU and the European Commission over the budget deficit. Italy wants to break the deficit rule to help out poor Italian citizens. This would mean an increase in spending on tax cuts, more benefits spending, and a lower retirement age and would break the 2.4 percent target set by the EU for 2019. The Commission is not exactly willing to budge on this, and have expressed serious concern, and Italy knows that increasing their deficit is against EU rules. The Commission is unlikely to support the Italian increase in their budget which means that Italy will need to re-submit a budget proposal. This ongoing issue of the budget deficit, along with the migration policy issues, demonstrate how Italy is trying to express sovereignty and have the rules bent or benefit their country. But, EU institutions are not willing to let Italy go against EU rules and be an exception to these rules. Threats will not help Italy get what they want but instead, working with the institutions that they have long been a part of could benefit them to come to a consensus and enact a useful migration policy and financial plan.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-22/italy-set-to-tell-eu-it-won-t-back-down-on-2-4-deficit-target

https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy/Immigration-and-foreign-policy

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-hits-back-hard-at-italys-budget-threat-in-migration-row/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/europe/eu-italy-migration-intl/index.html

Glencross, Andrew. 2014. “EU Policy-Making in Action.” The Politics of European Integration.

Definitions of Europe

September 14, 2018 / Lillian Pianin / 2 Comments

1. What is “Europe”? Where are its boundaries?

Europe is an inherently geographical term to define the separation of the western part of the Eurasian landmass but there are many ways to define what Europe is and where its boundaries are. The definition of Europe has changed over the centuries and continues to do so based on political, cultural, and geographic definitions. The geographic definition of Europe is based on the mountain ranges of the Urals and the Caucasus. These mountain ranges have defined what Europe geographically looks like because they are geographical borders that separate the landmass of Eurasia. Europe is also culturally defined by mass Christianity. Before Christianity spread to the European region, the area was populated by a multitude of different ethnic groups all with varying beliefs and cultural practices. Glencross attributes the beginning of Christianity as the basis for a European identity when the Germanic and other tribes overran the Roman Empire and converted to Christianity. Europe became united as a Christian republic. The definition of Europe is popularly viewed as political due to the fact that unification of the landmass has been an important element in defining Europe. Ideals of unity have defined the European region and in more recent times, Europe has become synonymous with the European Union even though the landmass of Europe contains more countries than the 28, soon to be 27, countries in the European Union. Europe is viewed by outsiders as a democratic continent that values human rights when this is more on par with the European Union than Europe as a whole. The European Union does not encompass all of Europe but allows any “European” country to join, among other criteria, so there is still a glimmer of hope for any European countries not in the European Union. This sliver of promise will probably never occur due to the fact that other countries would need to comply with the Copenhagen Criteria and conform to European Union ideals in order to unify as a landmass.
My case study of Italy is a part of the European Union and one of its founding members. Italy would have a positive view of Europe because it is a part of the exclusive European Union and believes in those ideals that define the European Union. Italy is also a Catholic country so it is also a part of cultural Europe. Italy is already on the inside of the European Union and even though it was only unified in the 19th century, it has always been seen as a part of Europe from its time as the Roman Empire, to its place in the Byzantine Empire, and as the seat of the Pope and the conglomerate Papal States. A state that is a part of Europe culturally and geographically but not a part of the EU, such as Serbia or Albania may not have the same view of what Europe is because they are not involved in the EU (yet). These outside states that are still technically within continental Europe that might be vying for EU membership might want to classify themselves as European to get into the EU. On the other hand, the country of Russia does not want to be in the EU so they might have a more negative perception of the European identity and being a part of Europe.

2. How does your case study relate to “the idea of Europe”?
The “idea of Europe” varies depending on what country or cultural group you ask. Each different group has different ideas and opinions that depends on different criteria. As mentioned above, Europe is defined politically, culturally, and geographically so one’s view on the idea of Europe depends on how they define Europe and their part, or lack thereof, in the European Union.
Italy was one of the founding members of the European Union and is a part of cultural Europe since it is a Catholic country and takes part in the Christian identity that Europe possesses. In the post-World War II and fascist period, Italy has taken part in democracy and pro-European unity ideals. Italy has always been seen as one of the less economically stable countries in the European Union so being in the European Union has benefited them in multiple ways, including economically. By having strong countries and the Euro backing Italy it strengthens the country itself and reinforces the unity within the European Union. Recently, going along with many other European countries, Italy has become more conservative and has a rising populist party, the Five Star Movement. Italy’s idea of Europe is changing with its evolving political landscape. Italy’s election earlier in 2018 demonstrated how citizens view of their role in Europe and the European Union is changing due to the immigration crisis. Italy’s far-right nationalist party, the League, is anti-immigration and does not want to uphold their end of the European Union’s plans to take in more migrants. Italy’s geographical location put them in a predicament during the immigration crisis and going forward does not want to bear most of the burden. The leader of this far-right nationalist party wants to “change Europe” which shows how much Italy has changed since it was a part of the European Coal and Steel Community and was pro-European Unity. Tensions are rising between the European Union and Italy which demonstrates how the idea of Europe is changing for Italy. Italy has become closer to the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, which shows how Italy is becoming more aligned with state sovereignty ideas rather than the ideas that make up the European Union and the prospect of a unified European continent.
Italy is at a crossroads where it can choose to stick with the democratic ideals it has valued for decades or it can go along with the rising nationalist and populist movement sweeping Europe, and the world, right now.

Works Cited

Glencross, Andrew. The Politics of European Integration. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.

“‘We Want to Change Things from Within.’ Italy’s Matteo Salvini on His Goal to Reshape Europe.” Time. Accessed September 14, 2018. http://time.com/5394207/matteo-salvini-time-interview-transcript-full/.

“Tensions Rise between Italy and the EU.” The Economist, August 30, 2018. https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/08/30/tensions-rise-between-italy-and-the-eu.