Italy Day
Jun 01, 2018
Fostering development in health, water and sanitation, education and security
Italy happy with Uganda efforts in regional integration, stability
His excellency, Domenico Fornara, is the Italian Ambassador to Uganda and has been in office since May 2015, Ronald Mugabe engaged him about the Italian National Day and Uganda-Italy RELATIONS REGARDING political, trade, cultural and development Issues. Below is the interview
Good day, your Excellency. Congratulations upon making three years at this mission and this year's Italian National Day.
Thank you. It is a great pleasure.
Kindly give us an overview of what the Italian National Day is and of what significance it is to all Italians around the world?
The Italian National Day falls on June 2 (tomorrow). This year, we are celebrating it today because tomorrow is a Saturday and we tend not to organise official events on weekends. Regarding what this day means, on June 2, 1946, Italians, after the tragedy of World War II, were invited to a referendum to decide whether they wanted to stay as a monarchy (which in our case was strictly linked to the rise of the fascist regime) or move to a parliamentary democracy. We chose the latter. So June 2 is the day the new democratic Republic of Italy was born. We, therefore, celebrate it to remind ourselves of the importance of modern democratic institutions and of all the efforts we have made to be able to leave fascism behind and enjoy freedom and civil rights. This year, we are also celebrating the 70th anniversary of our Constitution as on June 2, 1946, together with the vote for the referendum, also a Constituent Assembly was elected. It is this assembly that wrote, between 1946 and 1947, our Constitution, which we still consider a very balanced and valid text. The new fundamental law then entered into force on January 1, 1948. The national day is a significant moment for all Italians because it carries very high patriotic, emotional and cultural values. It is a day of gathering. Italians all over the world, even those who do not stay in Italy, celebrate it as we all feel a strong bond to our home country. In Uganda, we have a very good Italian community of about 500. They are all invited to the celebrations. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THIS STORY
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