She smokes, that we know. A lot. The problem is, how does she keep going? Where does she find the physical and mental energy needed just to be Emma Bonino? Or maybe we should call her \u201cBoninox\u201d \u2013 indestructible, like Inox steel. Emma Bonino is not just centre-stage, she owns that stage. She\u2019s one of a kind. Half-way between the street and the palaces of power, her mastery encompasses both the political scene and the civil front, in Italy, Europe and worldwide. <\/P>
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Following her to Paris for a summit on Syria, to Sierra Leone for the campaign to abolish the death penalty, to Ivory Coast to sign economic agreements. And then getting her to sit down for 20 minutes in her office at the Farnesina before she takes off again for Djibouti to promote the campaign against female genital mutilation. It\u2019s like watching a one-woman show. In this interview, given at a time when the \u201cMarines\u201d case has become incandescent, the Foreign Minister touches on a whole range of issues, including personal ones. She confides that she\u2019s never had the courage to say \u201cforever\u201d. Maybe. But anyone who\u2019s been following her career for 40 years would say the opposite. She hasn\u2019t just existed \u201cforever\u201d, she\u2019s existing evermore fully.<\/P>
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Minister, will you manage to bring the two Italian marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, back home to Italy?<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cWe\u2019re making every possible effort to do so. Not me, we. This is no place for individual initiatives. The question involves all of the institutions: the Prime Minister, Parliament, the Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Justice, a Special Commissioner, the State Legal Advisers, and India\u2019s foremost legal practices\u201d. <\/P> The goal? <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cTo ensure that one concept is understood: whatever happened, the marines were on duty, they cannot be terrorists, just as Italy is not a terrorist country. So the Indian attempt to try them on the basis of an anti-terrorism law is unacceptable\u201d. <\/P> What do you mean by \u201cwhatever happened\u201d?<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cIn a state that observes the rule of law, no matter what happens, a charge must be proven. And until then, each defendant has the right to be presumed innocent\u201d. <\/P> Your role? <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cTo internationalise the crisis. And that hasn\u2019t been easy. We\u2019re talking here about relations with India \u2013 a giant. It needs patience, discipline and months of work to inform our colleagues, persuade Germany, France and the United States to speak out, and prompt the European Union\u2019s foreign affairs Representative, Catherine Ashton, and the President of the Commission, Barroso, to act\u201d. <\/P> How do you feel, closeted in secret talks and negotiations? <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cThere\u2019s nothing secret about it. Diplomatic activity is, by its nature, confidential. But there\u2019s an enormous difference between secret and confidential\u201d. <\/P> Some commentators have criticised your softly-softly approach. <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cSome people think all you need to do is bang your fist on the table. If that were necessary I\u2019d do it, but it depends on who you\u2019re speaking to, the case you\u2019re dealing with, and the circumstances\u201d. <\/P> From the ship that was instructed to leave international waters, to the military personnel authorised to disembark, mistakes were made. Will we be seeing a committee of enquiry? <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cI\u2019d be in favour. But not to open up a tit-for-tat of recriminations. Understanding what happened would help us be a bit more shrewd, a bit less audacious. Which, to some extent, we were\u201d.<\/P> The Indians have been audacious too, in applying the rules. <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cPrecisely. We need to protect ourselves against any potential \u2018adventures\u2019 with third countries. By applying the utmost rigour in drafting laws, with clear procedures and lines of command\u201d. <\/P> Marines apart, do you feel, just a bit, that you\u2019re a \u201cmamma\u201d to Italians around the world?<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cI think I\u2019m viewed that way. But I shouldn\u2019t be. Tens of millions of Italians travel abroad for business or tourism. Some sort of trouble can always arise, and people call on the Farnesina\u2019s Crisis Unit for all sorts of problems. It can go too far\u201d. <\/P> How many cases do they deal with each year? <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cTen thousand, not counting the ones handled by our embassies. More than 300 cases of child abduction. Yes, couples can argue over children, but when one of the spouses is foreign he or she will often take the child to their country of origin. Intervening in adult relationships isn\u2019t easy. And then we have 3,120 Italians in prison. They all say they\u2019re innocent, but they aren\u2019t always. We monitor civil rights. But the Farnesina can\u2019t act as judge, especially in a third country. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m explaining this clearly\u201d. <\/P> Italy, the USA, Poland and Afghanistan. You\u2019ve been arrested too \u2013 4 times. <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cIn Afghanistan I was captured by the Taliban, but the other arrests were for civil disobedience. I openly broke a law, and was ready to pay the price of disobedience, either to open up a debate or to show that the law in question was unenforceable\u201d. <\/P> Minister, you\u2019ve been around for 40 years. We have a question: do you have to be born a Bonino?<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cNo, you become one. As a girl I always had a feeling of restlessness that I couldn\u2019t even express\u201d. <\/P> And then what happened? <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cIn summer 1974 I met Faccio, Gianfranco Spadaccia, Marco Pannella and all the others. I came from a practising [Catholic] family, but a liberal family with a strong sense of duty, in the Einaudi tradition. And in the radical \u2018family\u2019, which maybe seemed a tad eccentric, I saw people express and put into practice the things I myself felt. A sense of freedom linked with a sense of responsibility. The importance of rules and the sacredness of the law. Change through non-violence\u201d. <\/P> And 2 years later you were in Parliament.<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cThat was a great education. I was 28, I was young and, what\u2019s more, I was a woman \u2013 not a plus factor at the time \u2013 and a radical. There were 4 of us. Marco [Pannella] wanted us to learn the rules of procedure by heart, and at the start I didn\u2019t understand why. But he was right. The only thing that can protect a minority are rules and laws\u201d. <\/P> Why have the radicals always remained such a small minority?<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cTheir influence has been felt in civil society. You need only think of the Tortora case or public funding for political parties\u201d. <\/P> Which is still in place, however. <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cThey\u2019ve changed the name and now call it \u2018electoral reimbursement\u2019. In breach of the constitution\u201d. <\/P> From right to left, in the last 20 years you\u2019ve been linked with different political forces. Has anyone ever called you a turncoat?<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cIt\u2019s happened on occasion. But I am, and remain, a militant radical. And proud to be one. That\u2019s not a lot? Maybe. But to me it\u2019s a reason for pride and glory\u201d.<\/P> In Italy, do you think women are still at a disadvantage? <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cPay differentials and access to the labour market tell us that they are. By law, we don\u2019t have discrimination, but we have it in our heads. And that\u2019s the hardest discrimination to eradicate. If I look around I tell myself that we\u2019ve come a long way. We can change things, so all the more reason to persist\u201d. <\/P> Where do you see margins for improvement?<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cIn the new generations. But welfare, Italian-style, still rests on women\u2019s shoulders. This country hasn\u2019t realised that it\u2019s getting old. Or rather, it sees that it is, but has failed to implement the necessary policies. And the weight of our elderly people is going to fall on the female part of the family. You want to be King Kong, but if you\u2019ve got a child to rear and an elderly relative to care for, how can you hold down a job?\u201d<\/P> Couldn\u2019t that be a virtuous model? <\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cIt can\u2019t be a destiny. A community needs to allow for the aspirations of each of its members\u201d. <\/P> Do you have a partner?<\/STRONG><\/P> \u201cNo, I\u2019m single. Although\u2026\u201d<\/P>
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