The European Fee and the European Parliament nominated the Italian island of Ventotene the historic capital of the ethical and mental development of European values in a ceremony on Sunday (28 August) held amid a seminar on European federalism.
“Ventotene has been the lighthouse exhibiting the way in which for European integration. For this reason I proposed with Salvatore de Meo that the European Parliament recognises this elementary contribution by declaring it Europe’s ethical capital” Domenec Ruiz Devesa, a Spanish socialist EU lawmaker who participated within the ceremony, instructed EURACITV.
Within the Thirties and Forties, the island of Ventotene was used as a web site of imprisonment for political dissidents beneath fascism.
In early Forties, throughout a interval of confinement on the island, three males – Altiero Spinelli, Ernesto Rossi and Eugenio Colorni – produced the so-called Ventotene Manifesto, one of many texts extensively thought-about to be a founding doc of the European Union.
MEPs authorised a report final April which underlined the numerous function of the Manifesto within the creation of the EU.
The report refers back to the Ventotene seminar based by Spinelli in 1982 as a key a part of implementing European residents’ schooling.
For the next 4 many years, younger folks from throughout the globe, along with MEPs and politicians of varied backgrounds, have gathered on the island annually to take part in lectures and discussions on European federalism.
The seminars have attracted high-profile visitors. In 2021, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell and Italian president Sergio Mattarella participated within the occasion.
The small island of Santo Stefano, which neighbours Ventotene, has additionally been gaining recognition in recent times.
The MEPs’ report careworn “the symbolic significance of the works to reclaim the Carcere di Santo Stefano and its potential to change into a centre of reference for everlasting cultural alternate, public occasions, exhibitions and debate”.
[Edited by Alice Taylor/Nathalie Weatherald]
