(Marcinelle, 8 August 2026)<\/p>\n
Seventy years ago, on 8 August 1956, Marcinelle became forever etched in the collective memory of our country and of Europe.<\/p>\n
In the Bois du Cazier mine shaft, 262 workers of twelve different nationalities lost their lives, 136 of whom were Italian. Today we remember them one by one. Behind those figures were names, faces, families and hopes. Men who set out to build, through their work, a better future for their children and to contribute to the rebirth of Italy.<\/p>\n
This day also belongs to those who were left behind: to the widows, the orphans and the communities who were able to transform their immense grief into the power of remembrance and the courage to carry on. From them we learnt the truest meaning of dignity: that of those who had left their homeland to work, and that of those who, for seventy years, have preserved and passed on its memory.<\/p>\n
That is why, since 2001, following an initiative by the Berlusconi government, 8 August has been designated as the National Day of Sacrifice for Italian Workers Around the World.<\/p>\n
Marcinelle is an Italian tragedy, but also a profoundly European one. Out of that pain also grew the realisation that Europe should be not merely an economic area, but a community based on rights, solidarity and the protection of the individual.<\/p>\n
I worked in Brussels, alongside the whole Government, to establish 8 August as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Workplace Accidents. An initiative I\u2019ve been keen to see happen, and which will soon become a reality. In this spirit of European solidarity, I intend to pay another visit to Marcinelle in the coming months, together with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.<\/p>\n
Remembrance must translate into responsibility and action. Our Constitution establishes the Republic on the basis of work, recognises every citizen\u2019s right to work, and calls upon everyone to fulfil their duty to contribute to the progress of society. Every life lost at work undermines one of the very foundations of our democracy.<\/p>\n
No economic gain can be worth a human life. The safety of workers is the first measure of a country\u2019s civilisation. We need prevention, training, clear rules, rigorous checks and a shared sense of responsibility amongst institutions, businesses and workers.<\/p>\n
Seventy years on, Italy stands in solidarity with Marcinelle. He does so to pay tribute to the victims, to express his sympathy to their families and to reaffirm his gratitude to the millions of fellow Italians who, through their hard work, skills and sacrifice, continue every day to bring prestige to our country throughout the world.<\/p>\n
Preserving the memory of Marcinelle means turning it into a sense of responsibility. It means upholding the dignity of work everywhere, strengthening the culture of safety, and working to ensure that no one ever has to lose their life whilst building a future for themselves and their family. This is the commitment we make to the victims of Marcinelle and to all Italians around the world: no more deaths at work.<\/p>\n
Honour to the fallen of Marcinelle. Long live Italy, long live Italians abroad, long live Europe!<\/p>\n
Antonio Tajani<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Marcinelle, 8 August 2026) Seventy years ago, on 8 August 1956, Marcinelle became forever etched in the collective memory of our country and of Europe. In the Bois du Cazier mine shaft, 262 workers of twelve different nationalities lost their lives, 136 of whom were Italian. Today we remember them one by one. Behind those […]","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":196583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7,28],"class_list":["post-201910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comunicati","tag-italiani-nel-mondo","tag-ministro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201910"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201913,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201910\/revisions\/201913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}