The Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, Michele Valensise, received the German Deputy Foreign Minister, Michael Georg Link, at the Farnesina today. The Secretary General was acting on instructions from Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi.
Valensise noted that “with all due respect for the independence of the German courts, we cannot ignore the fact that this decision is, for Italians, and not just the survivors and the families of the victims, greatly upsetting and a source of new suffering”. Ambassador Valensise added that “our sympathy and solidarity goes out to all concerned”.
During their discussion, Valensise recalled “the need to ensure that the reconstruction of the events and responsibility for them is not limited to the courts. […] In 2008, the Governments of Italy and Germany entrusted a mixed Commission with the task of jointly investigating Italy and Germany’s war-time past. Our goal is to help reconstruct a common culture of remembrance: the memory and knowledge of the tragedies of the past are essential if we are to safeguard the ideals of freedom, democracy and solidarity that are the foundation of the construction of Europe”.
“Italy therefore intends”, concluded the Secretary General, “to go on working with Germany to enforce the International Court of Justice’s ruling of 3 February 2012. Especially that part of the ruling that, with reference to the claims of the victims of massacres and Italian former military internees, calls for an agreed solution by the two countries to compensate the victims of such dreadful suffering”.
