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INTERNATIONAL
the opposite, being our country in it's time to apply them. They blatantly force, regardless of how much time
a position that makes it diverse, act against the law, for the very simple is wasted before they are applied.
multilingual, International and reason that they have been completely But the longer it takes, the more
neutral. We have a genuine wish to unchallenged, until very recently. damage is done: the city of Trieste
see this area of Europe evolve from The main dilemma, for the Italian has lost almost one third of its
the cold-war era gridlock it still government, is mostlikelythatthe Free population, mainly due to the lack
finds itself in. And we think it's time. Port of Trieste and the Free Territory of work. Keeping in mind that we
are talking about what is supposed
"It is worth mentioning
Ifyou gain thestatus ofan independent to be the most prosperous Free Port
territory, how would you survive? that our claims do not in Europe, this is being perceived
What do you have to offer? more and more as outrageous.
The status of independent territory is come from a nationa- Dozens of citizens of Trieste
already recognised, on paper, by all list perspective but have been picked by the Italian
the signatories of the treaties involved, quite the opposite, authorities, seemingly at random
as well as by the United Nations. among thousands at peaceful
being our country in a demonstrations, and have been
Trieste is a port city, a condition position that makes it accused of the fascist crime of
that virtually anywhere in the world "seditious gathering' most likely to
generates prosperity and wealth; If diverse, multilingual, make an example to scare the others.
there is one issue we are very unlikely International and Hundreds have decided that they
to face, in a future scenario where will not pay any more taxes to the
the International law is applied, is neutral." Italian government unless their full
economic or financial sustainability. legal status is applied. Their claims
This is in large part thanks to the can not be decoupled: they proceed on have merit, but they will face severe
current legislation on the Free Port parallel lines, from a legal perspective. charges, if no effort to apply the
of Trieste, which is tightly connected If we also consider that the legislation current International law is made.
to the Free Territory, and could I have been mentioning throughout Thousands and thousands of citizens
be considered the most advanced this interview is embedded even in marched on the streets of Trieste
Free Zone in the whole continent. the very fabric of the current model of demanding for their rights to be
That is, on paper. Things are very International trade, the GATT/WTO respected, in a major event that
different on the field: the Northern agreements (Art. XXIV 3.2), we can anywhere else in Europe would have
Free Port, a very large (at over see that, on paper, there is no doubt been met with International media
700.000 sqm) part of our Free that the Free Territory of Trieste coverage.
Zone, right in the heart of the city could thrive and stand on its feet.
of Trieste, today looks worse than it But this was not the case here, where
did when World War 2 ended, as a A Free Port - even a crippled government-sponsored censorship
direct result of these laws not being one like today - is a clear vector has unfortunately become the norm.
applied! It is so uniquely awful it for prosperity; yet, if the Italian Anyway, one thing must be clear: the
needs to be seen to be believed. government confiscates hundreds treaties inforce arenotgoinganywhere,
of millions of revenue from it every and neither are the citizens who are
The Free Port of Trieste is formally single year, as is being done right now well-aware of this problem.
recognised by the Italian government now (which also happens to be
International
and even by the European Union, yet completely illegal), normal citizens The community
it is run in a completely illegal way, to see no substantial benefit from it. should understand this issue and
the detriment of the local population. According to UN expert professor work towards a solution as soon
To make a clear example of this, let's de Zayas, in the case of Trieste the as possible: they might very well
consider Art. 18.3, stating that "The reactivation of the Free Port would find out they have as much to gain,
Director [of the Free Port] shall not be a win win proposition for all from an effective solution to the
be a citizen of [former]Yugoslavia concerned and would energize trade question of Trieste, as we citizens do.
or Italy"; despite this, the Italian in Europe and beyond. My message to the readers would
government has nominated only then be: whoever finds this complex
Italiancitizensforthis role, fordecades. Finally Mr Stok, do you have issue to be interesting and is in a
They know these laws are in force, they a message to our readers? If position to give this cause further
formally admit they are in force, but yes, what would that be? International exposure, should
they simply do not seem to care when These treaties will keep on being in contactTriestNGO as soon aspossible.

INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT - DIVA 33