Italy fights the EU for the right of Italian to remain spoken in meetings

[Strengthandhonour]

By JOJI SAKURAI, Associated Press Writer

ROME - It's called the language of love, of grand opera and some of the greatest poetry known to humanity, but Italians fear their melodic tongue no longer passes muster for bureaucrats in Brussels.

A quiet decision by the EU to stop translating some news conferences into Italian has generated a very loud reaction here, with the government issuing an official protest and newspapers agonizing over how the land that gave birth to Dante could suffer such a humiliation.

In a letter addressed to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Italy's ambassador to the EU, Rocco Cangelosi, complained of "grave discrimination" taken against his nation and a "clear violation of treaties."

Last week's decision doesn't target Italy in particular. It simply selects English, French and German as the three main languages into which all EU commissioner news conferences are automatically translated. Up to now, the events have been translated in the 20 official EU languages.

But the Italian press has been acting as if being left off the elite list means Brussels is deliberately relegating the nation to second-tier status.

"Let's relaunch Italian prestige," the Roman daily Il Messagero said Monday in a front-page commentary. "With the exclusion of Italian, the political consideration our nation has and will have in Brussels has clearly been reduced."

Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini played down the significance of the move, saying in an editorial in the Corriere della Sera that any notion the move to drop Italian downgrades Rome in the EU is "exaggerated."

But Fini, who leads the right-wing National Alliance Party, went on to wax poetic about the central role Italian language and literature have played in European culture, singling out the medieval poet Dante Alighieri, author of the "Divine Comedy."

"The defense of Italian language and identity has nothing to do with 'nationalist' attitudes," Fini wrote. The poet T.S. Eliot, the minister went on to say, "reminds us ... that Dante's universal vision of the world and his religious inspiration make him 'by far the most European' of the poets of our continent."

The EU said the decision was purely a pragmatic one, and it has not provoked similar outcries in other member nations.

"We have to consider the unavailability of interpreters and their costs," said Francoise Le Bail, the EU Commission spokeswoman.

If Fini expressed subtle displeasure at the EU move, some members of Italy's aristocracy — perhaps conscious of their glory days of being world players and patrons of the arts — did not hesitate to show their outrage.

Princess Yasmin von Hohenstaufen, a descendant of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, declared in a statement issued by the European Council of Princes that "Italian must triumph over any death sentence."

"The Princess Yasmin von Hohenstaufen Avril de Burey d'Anjou Puoti called on the President of the Italian Republic to withdraw Italy from the EU in protest over the exclusion of the Italian language," the statement said.

Italy's cultural heritage — from the legacy of ancient Rome to the treasures of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci — is a source of tremendous pride here. But the feeling that Italy isn't quite taken seriously on the world stage has long been a sore point.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi played on those concerns when he tried to generate public support for sending troops to Iraq (news - web sites) under the U.S.-led coalition.

[Ederico]

Viva l'Italiano! Se un giorno c'è la faccio al Parlamento Europeo io usero l'Italiano come mia lingua!

Ma che sta facendo Fini? È rimbecillito?

"The defense of Italian language and identity has nothing to do with 'nationalist' attitudes," -- Ma che cavolo dice Fini?

[Cristoforo]

Quel che e troppo e troppo!

Ma come fa uno di destra a dire quello che ha detto Fini!

[Strengthandhonour]

Sono felice gli italiani non sto lasciandosi sono regolato sopra. La lingua italiana è stata importante quanto il francese, l'inglese ed il tedesco! VIVA ITALIA!

[anaktas]

What a pity. I do not know Italian.

[trinacria]

Ma che cazzo dice Fini!!!! Capperi! Come dicono i siciliani <<chistu mi faci lanzari>>...

[Figlio della Lupa]

Originally Posted by Ederico Figallo

Viva l'Italiano! Se un giorno c'è la faccio al Parlamento Europeo io usero l'Italiano come mia lingua!

Ma che sta facendo Fini? È rimbecillito?

"The defense of Italian language and identity has nothing to do with 'nationalist' attitudes," -- Ma che cavolo dice Fini?

Fini è un traditore e basta. L'AN, direi, è il vero male assoluto. Neanche la cosiddetta "Destra Sociale" non è al nostro fianco.



Ecco il vero orgoglio dell'Alleanza Nazionale. Gnam gnam.

Comunque, penso che questa decisione sia alla fine un bene perché dimostra quanto l'UE si "occupa" di noi. Ci hanno dato un bel "vaffanculo" (scusate) e anche hanno rinforzato la loro agenda di distruggere poco per poco le culture autoctone europee.

Fuori l'Italia da questa cazzata di un'organizzazione!

[daspit]

Does this imply that English, French, and German are becoming the "official" languages of the EU?

Do you think that the other languages in Europe may become marginalized during this century?

[trinacria]

I hope to God that won't happen. Italian is a beautiful, beautiful language and it would be an extreme injustice to refuse its ability to be used in the EU. How quickly the world forgets what Italy has done for it

[Strengthandhonour]

this little law the EU passed seems very stupid in my opinion. The Eu parliment should translate to all European languages.

[trinacria]

Exactly.

[Figlio della Lupa]

Originally Posted by daspit

Does this imply that English, French, and German are becoming the "official" languages of the EU?

Do you think that the other languages in Europe may become marginalized during this century?

I hope that by that happens, the EU will be defunct and all of Europe will have preservationists in power. That's just me hoping of course.

[Figlio della Lupa]

Originally Posted by Strengthandhonour

Princess Yasmin von Hohenstaufen, a descendant of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, declared in a statement issued by the European Council of Princes that "Italian must triumph over any death sentence."

"The Princess Yasmin von Hohenstaufen Avril de Burey d'Anjou Puoti called on the President of the Italian Republic to withdraw Italy from the EU in protest over the exclusion of the Italian language," the statement said.

I agree with the princess.

[etoile noir]

i can't understand why ederico and cristoforo and so worked up over the issue of the italian lanuage when our own language is under an even worse attack. don't misunderstand, i fully appreciate the beauty of the italian language, however, as a maltese person, I am more concerned with the following:

Luxembourg PM 'regrets' Malta's official language status
Ivan Camilleri in Brussels

Luxemburg's Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker, who currently represents the EU presidency, regrets the fact that Maltese has been recognised as an official language of the bloc, according to a report in the EU press.
As the European Union starts debating a request by the Irish government to make Gaelic an official EU language and by the Spanish government to include Catalan, Galician and Basque as official working languages, Mr Juncker was quoted by Agence Europe as saying he regretted Malta's request, during its accession negotiations, which led to the recognition of Maltese as an official EU language.
He said his country had never asked for its language to be an official EU language and pointed out that all his countrymen and women speak French and German.
He suggested that Malta should have followed Luxembourg's example instead of making its demand for official language status, with all the attendant complications and costs.
The Times is informed that Mr Junker's remarks have annoyed the Maltese government. A Maltese diplomatic source said the Prime Minister's assessment and comparisons are wrong and should not have been made.
The source said the situation in Malta is very different from that of Luxembourg, adding that not all Maltese speak and understand English, as it is the situation in Luxembourg with French and German. Maltese also feel much more comfortable expressing themselves in their own language.
The source added that Mr Juncker's statement was also erroneous historically, as Luxembourgish was not even recognised in Luxembourg until the mid-1980s, well after the country's entry into the EU.
The Maltese language has been one of the 21 official EU languages since accession last May. This has brought with it numerous opportunities of employment for Maltese citizens in the translation and interpretation services of the EU. Most of the vacancies, however, are still to be filled.
Meanwhile, following preliminary discussions on the Irish and Spanish requests, there is known to be more support within the member states for the Irish proposal.
Irish (Gaelic) is recognised in the Irish Constitution and is widely spoken across the country. On the contrary, the Spanish request is being interpreted as seeking recognition of regional languages, something which member states want to exclude as this will lead to a number of other regional languages in other member states pushing for official recognition.


source - Times of Malta [15 March 05]

[Cristoforo]

Indeed, that's an even worse case for us Maltese & I just read about it now thanks to the article Etoile posted.

It's clear that some europeans are already showing signs of "imperialism". Any nationalist of any country must be against the suppression of any European language which is an integral part of the identity & culture of a particular nation.

The current EU must not become a sort of federal state where a central power (Brussels) control what happens in our countries.

NO to Federal Europe.

YES to closer collaboration between sovereign European countries.

[Theobald]

Originally Posted by Ederico Figallo

Ma che sta facendo Fini? È rimbecillito?

Forse preferisce dire che il fascismo è il male assoluto o viaggiare un po' :

I hope to God that won't happen. Italian is a beautiful, beautiful language and it would be an extreme injustice to refuse its ability to be used in the EU. How quickly the world forgets what Italy has done for it

So true. I really like Italian language, especially when it is spoken by a gorgeous Italian girl, have to say It is also quite easy for a French to learn it.
A noi ! Me ne frego !

[trinacria]

I must say a few points:

1) I agree the Maltese language should be recognized. I can sympathize with the Maltese people here since Sicilian is going through sort of the same thing.
2) In a perfect world, Italy would still be in the EU but still have the lira.