Gianfranco Fini

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Gianfranco Fini (2016)

Gianfranco Fini ( listen ? / I ; born January 3, 1952 in Bologna ) is an Italian politician . From 2008 to 2013 he was President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies . Audio file / audio sample

From 2004 to 2006 he was Italian Foreign Minister and from 1995 to 2008 chairman of the national conservative party Alleanza Nazionale (AN), which emerged in 1995 from the neo-fascist party Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI) and in March 2009 in the center-right party Il Popolo della Libertà (PdL) rose. At the end of 2010 Fini founded the liberal-conservative party Futuro e Libertà per l'Italia , which has been de facto dissolved since 2014.

Youth and career at the neo-fascist MSI

Fini in 1983

At the age of 17 Fini joined the school and student organization Giovane Italia of the right-wing extremist MSI in 1969 . The trigger was, according to his own statements, that a group of communists had denied him entry to the cinema, where " Green Berets " with John Wayne was shown, an " ode " to the Vietnam War . He completed a degree in pedagogy at La Sapienza University in Rome. In 1973 Fini became head of the Roman provincial association of the MSI youth organization Fronte della Gioventù (FdG), in 1977 he was elected to the central committee of the MSI. In the same year, the party chairman Giorgio Almirante appointed him national leader of the party youth FdG, which Fini led until 1988. He also wrote for the party newspaper Il Secolo d'Italia and the bi-weekly magazine Dissenso of the FdG. He therefore lists "journalist" as his profession. Fini was then considered the "Crown Prince" Almirante, who in turn had been a follower of Benito Mussolini . In the parliamentary elections in 1983 Fini was first elected to the Camera dei deputati (Chamber of Deputies) of the Italian Parliament, to which he served for eight terms.

In 1987 Fini was elected as successor to Almirante to the "national secretary" (ie chairman) of the MSI. The " Roman salute " with an outstretched arm lost its meaning under Fini, and he got his party friends to leave the black shirts in the closet. In this way he succeeded in loosening the isolation of the neo-fascist MSI, which for decades had been positioned on the far right of the Italian party landscape - outside the “constitutional arc ” (arco costituzionale) . As early as 1987, Prime Minister Bettino Craxi of the Socialists invited Fini to official talks between party leaders about constitutional reform. Under Almirante, MSI was still excluded from such rounds. From 1989 to 1992 Fini was a member of the European Parliament for the first time . However, there was resistance to Fini's relatively moderate course: In January 1990, the party congress replaced Fini with Pino Rauti from the extreme, movement-fascist wing of the MSI. In July 1991 Fini was able to win back the party leadership.

Alleanza Nazionale and conversion to a conservative democrat

Fini and the MSI took advantage of the Tangentopoli corruption scandal that came to light in 1992, which resulted in a massive loss of trust among the population in the previous governing parties. In the mayoral election in Rome in 1993 Fini came into the runoff, in which he was defeated with 46.9% of the vote, which, however, was a record result for a candidate of the MSI. Encouraged by this, he promoted the transformation of the neo-fascist party into the conservative right-wing movement Alleanza Nazionale (AN). Under this name, the party entered the parliamentary elections in 1994. She came up with a record result of 13.5% - more than twice as much as the MSI had ever received before - making it the third strongest force. Subsequently, she was involved in the Italian government for the first time as a junior partner of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia ( Berlusconi I cabinet ). In the European elections in 1994, Fini was re-elected to the European Parliament, where he remained until 2001.

At the Fiuggi party congress in January 1995, he pushed through the final renaming of MSI to Alleanza Nazionale and thus the outward break with historical fascism. This process is referred to in the press and political science as svolta di Fiuggi ("Wende von Fiuggi") - analogous to the "Wende von Bolognina" with which the Italian communists transformed themselves into "left- wing democrats " in 1989-91 . The Pino Rautis wing, who refused to accept this, then left the party and founded the Fiamma Tricolore , which continues to openly profess fascism. Anti-Semitism and open nostalgia for fascism have since been officially taboo in the Alleanza Nazionale, even if they were actually still widespread on the grassroots. As recently as 1994, Fini described Benito Mussolini as the "greatest statesman of the century". A few years later, as Italy's foreign minister, he no longer wanted to hear about it: “Mussolini made an authoritarian regime possible. I wouldn't say today what I said then. In fact, I didn't say it anymore. "

Gianfranco Fini 2001

The party's new image was democratic, conservative and national. Fini called himself "post-fascist and democrat" and tried to open up to the center. According to survey results, most Italians found Fini's change from neo-fascist to democratic right-wing conservative to be credible, and he continued to be heavily criticized by social democrats and communists . In the 1996 parliamentary elections , the AN achieved 15.7%, which has to do with the vacuum on the right since the collapse of the traditional Democrazia Cristiana in 1993, which Berlusconi's Forza Italia could not completely fill. In the 2001 parliamentary elections , the AN received 12% of the vote. The end of the isolation of the nationalists also showed the government participation in the Berlusconi government from 2001, which was less widely criticized abroad than in the year before the ÖVP FPÖ coalition ( government Bowl I ) in Austria , which even sanctions the European Union after had pulled.

The former concentration camp Auschwitz visited Fini 1999. As an Italian foreign minister, he traveled in November 2003 by Israel and attended the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. On this occasion he called fascism “part of the epoch of absolute evil” and complained about the lack of resistance of the Italians to the “shameful racial laws ”: “In view of the horror of the Shoa, the Holocaust, one feels deeply the obligation to keep memories alive and to do everything possible in the future to prevent even one person from suffering what Nazism did to the entire Jewish people ”. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Fini a “good and friendly leader”. For some party friends that was too much, for example the granddaughter of the " Duce ", Alessandra Mussolini , who Fini called "a politician without heart and soul". Alessandra Mussolini and many other members accused Fini of being driven more by career aspirations than convictions and left the party. The Alternativa Sociale , founded by Mussolini, collected the “hard core” of the former MSI in addition to the Fiamma Tricolore (with a share of the votes in the 2004 European elections of 1.2 and 0.7%).

Younger AN members in particular welcomed Fini's publicly staged break with the past, while older members like Mirko Tremaglia did not want to condemn the fascist past entirely. In the municipalities they govern, streets are named after the size of the fascist regime and conferences are financed that are supposed to finally bring “historical justice” to fascism. Between fascism and anti-fascism there is a third option, called "A-fascism". After the merger of the AN with Forza Italia, some members split off again in 2007 under the leadership of Francesco Storace and founded the La Destra party .

The eloquent and always neatly dressed Fini surprised his political opponents again and again. For example, when he called for the right to vote for immigrants in 2003 - a proposal that is usually supported by Italy's left-wing parties. Nevertheless he made “slip-ups” like statements about the “Italian” coast of Croatia (see also irredentism ).

Foreign Minister in the Berlusconi government

On November 18, 2004, Fini was appointed Foreign Minister by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi . He succeeded Franco Frattini, who was appointed to the EU Commission . His appointment had been largely anticipated and marked Fini's climax to date in his political career. Fini had previously been deputy head of government without a department of his own. The post crowned Fini's transformation from self-proclaimed post-fascist to a respected politician with a majority. In return, Fini is said to have approved controversial tax cuts. A change in Italian foreign policy was not expected by the media commentators. “We're somebody again!” Was the central message from Fini and Berlusconi to their own people. In terms of foreign policy, Italy closely followed the United States . In Iraq stationed Italy accordingly 3,000 soldiers.

As the representative of Italy, Fini worked on the European constitution and thus cemented his reputation as a staunch European. His ideal is, however, a " Europe of fatherlands " in the sense of Charles de Gaulle . In 2003 Fini snubbed the EU by approving the building of the Israeli wall as a “legitimate act of self-defense”, in stark contrast to the official foreign policy of the community .

In the parliamentary elections in 2006 Fini ran nationwide as the top candidate of his party, which also ran with his name as a party symbol. Fini has stated that he wants to become Prime Minister if he gets one more vote than Silvio Berlusconi, who also ran as the top candidate in all constituencies. However, the election was won by the social democratic opposition under Romano Prodi , the AN received 12.3% of the vote.

President of Parliament and party founder of the FLI

After the clear victory of Berlusconi's new party alliance Il Popolo della Libertà in the parliamentary elections in 2008 , Gianfranco Fini was elected President at the constituent session of the Italian Chamber of Deputies on April 30, 2008 in the fourth ballot with the votes of the new majority (335 of 611 votes) .

Although Fini claimed equal leadership of the Il Popolo della Libertà party, created by the merger of the AN with Forza Italia in March 2009, he did not take over any party office with reference to his non-partisan office of President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

When the political end of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appeared possible at the end of 2009, calls for Fini were loud. Die Zeit wrote: “There are many indications that Fini does not want to wait another three years before he can take power in the party and in the country. He suspects that it could then be too late for him and his project: to say goodbye to the anti-democratic and anachronistic leadership cult and to build a modern, European-oriented, conservative party. ”In April 2010, Fini and Berlusconi delivered a much-noticed public An exchange of blows in which Fini Berlusconi had accused an authoritarian leadership style and threatened to found his own wing in the PdL. In the following month, Fini's supporters founded the group Generazione Italia within the party under the leadership of MP and Fini's confidante Italo Bocchino .

On July 29, 2010, the party executive of the PdL passed a resolution that stated that cooperation with Fini was no longer possible. Berlusconi also called on Fini to resign from the office of President of Parliament. In response, Fini's supporters founded a new parliamentary group called Futuro e Libertà per l'Italia (FLI; "Future and Freedom for Italy") in the Chamber of Deputies (33 members) and in the Senate (10 members) on July 30, 2010 , the to remain in the government coalition, but did not want to support any laws for the personal benefit of Berlusconi. This included mostly former members of the Alleanza Nazionale, but with Benedetto Della Vedova also a former member of the liberal Radicali Italiani . In November 2010 the FLI withdrew completely from the government. A month later, the majority of the FLI parliamentarians voted for a motion of no confidence by the opposition against Berlusconi, which, however, was able to remain in office with a narrow majority. However, Fini retained the office of President of Parliament (until the end of the legislative period in March 2013).

From the FLI parliamentary groups in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, an independent party of the same name emerged, the first party conference of which took place in February 2011. Fini was elected party chairman. In the run-up to the local elections in spring 2011, Fini's party agreed an alliance with the Unione di Centro (UdC) Pier Ferdinando Casinis , who had previously left the Berlusconi camp, and the Alleanza per l'Italia (ApI) Francesco Rutellis , who had moved away from the Partito Democratico (PD) had split off. The alliance called itself Nuovo Polo per l'Italia and positioned itself as the “third pole” between Berlusconi's center-right block and the PD-led center-left camp. After Berlusconi's resignation as Prime Minister and the end of the Berlusconi IV cabinet in November 2011, Fini and his FLI supported the transitional government under Mario Monti , which consisted of non-party “technocrats”. These included the diplomat Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata , who became foreign minister at Fini's proposal.

In the 2013 parliamentary elections in Italy , Fini supported Mario Monti's candidacy . With only 0.46%, his party Futuro e Libertà missed entry into the Chamber of Deputies, so that Fini had to give up his parliamentary seat.

The Monte Carlo affair

In August 2010, after the founding of the Futuro e Libertà faction , the center-right newspapers “ Il Giornale ”, “ Libero ” and “Panorama” carried out a sharp press campaign against Fini. The focus of the campaign was an apartment in Monte Carlo that the Alleanza Nazionale had inherited from Countess Anna Maria Colleoni. The apartment was sold in 2008 to an offshore company based on the island of St. Lucia through the Alleanza Nazionale. The sales price was 300,000 euros. In 2010 the apartment was rented to the entrepreneur Giancarlo Tulliani, the brother of Fini's friend Elisabetta Tulliani.

On July 30th , a criminal complaint was filed by Francesco Storace , leader of the La Destra party and former member of the Alleanza Nazionale. The public prosecutor of Rome opened a new investigation against unknown persons.

The Berlusconi-related newspapers “Il Giornale” and “Libero” claimed that Giancarlo Tulliani was the real owner of the apartment that Fini had sold on behalf of Alleanza Nazionale at a price that was well below its real value. Tulliani is still the real owner of the offshore company that bought the apartment from Alleanza Nazionale. On September 25, 2010, Fini declared in a video message: "If it turns out that the apartment in Montecarlo belongs to Giancarlo Tulliani, I will resign as President of the Chamber of Deputies."

On October 26, 2010, the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office called for the investigation to be terminated.

On January 27, 2011, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced that the government of the island of St. Lucia had officially confirmed that Giancarlo Tulliani was the owner of the company to which the apartment belonged. The prosecutor said the contents of the official documents sent to Italy by the government of St. Lucia were not relevant to the investigation.

The campaigns of the newspapers “Il Giornale” and “Libero” dealt not only with the Montecarlo affair, but also with many deals of the lawyer and real estate entrepreneur Elisabetta Tulliani, Fini's girlfriend, and his family.

Il Giornale reported on a television production house called Absolute TV Media, which, according to the newspaper, is 51% owned by the housewife Francesca Frau, the mother of Elisabetta Tulliani, who has nothing to do with the world of television. The production house received an order from the state television broadcaster RAI , through which it earned over one million euros.

family

In the eighties Fini met Daniela Di Sotto, who was married to Sergio Mariani, friend of Fini and member of his party. Daniela Di Sotto separated from Mariani and married Fini. In 1985 their only daughter Giuliana was born. Fini and his wife separated in 2007.

After the separation, the relationship between Fini and Elisabetta Tulliani (* 1972), former life partner of the football entrepreneur Luciano Gaucci , was made known. The couple have two daughters: Carolina and Martina.

Awards

literature

  • Roland Höhne: The victory of democracy. The transformation of the neo-fascist Italian social movement MSI into the right-wing national Alleanza Nazionale. In: Uwe Backes / Eckhard Jesse (ed.): Yearbook Extremism & Democracy. 19th year, Baden-Baden 2008, pp. 89-114.
  • Stefano Fella: From Fiuggi to the Farnesina: Gianfranco Fini's Remarkable Journey. In: Journal of Contemporary European Studies 14 (2006), No. 1, pp. 11–23.

Web links

Commons : Gianfranco Fini  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Gianfranco Fini  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Markus K. Grimm: The problematic reinvention of the Italian right. The Alleanza Nazionale and its way to the center. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2016, pp. 252-253.
  2. ↑ Markus K. Grimm: The problematic reinvention of the Italian right. The Alleanza Nazionale and its way to the center. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2016, pp. 250-251.
  3. ^ Fini in Israele "Il fascismo fu parte del male assoluto." In: La Repubblica , November 24, 2003.
  4. ↑ Camera, Fini presidente eletto. «La XVI sia la legislatura costituente» Corriere della Sera , April 30, 2008
  5. ↑ zeit.de of December 10, 2009.
  6. ↑ sueddeutsche.de of April 23, 2010: "Political currents are metastases" .
  7. ↑ Fini founds the "Generation Italy" movement. In: Die Presse , May 4, 2010.
  8. ↑ Dominik Straub: With “Generazione Italia” against “Caesar” Berlusconi. In: Tagblatt , May 6, 2010.
  9. ↑ Die Welt of July 30, 2010: Dispute in Berlusconi's government escalates
  10. ↑ Berlusconi breaks with Fini , Tagesschau (ARD). July 30, 2010. Archived from the original on July 31, 2010. Retrieved July 31, 2010. 
  11. ^ Corriere della Sera of July 30, 2010: Fini: non mi dimetto, premier illiberale
  12. ↑ La Repubblica of July 30, 2010: Fini: Berlusconi illiberale, non lascio
  13. ↑ Berlusconi survives a vote of no confidence. In: Zeit Online , December 14, 2010.
  14. ^ Jörg Bremer: Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata - Always loyal. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine (online), November 25, 2011.
  15. ^ Gianluca Wallisch: Heroes die in parliament. Der Standard , February 26, 2013, accessed February 26, 2013 .
  16. ↑ Valore Giudicato congruo dalle autorità di Monte Carlo al passaggio di proprietà avvenuto nel 1999
  17. ↑ Le autorità del Principato di Monaco confermano: Casa An, nel 1999 valore era congruo
  18. ↑ Ma è stimata molto più di 1 milione nel 2008 secondo il Corriere
  19. ↑ Casa a Montecarlo, la procura di Roma apre un fascicolo per truffa. ( Memento of the original from August 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Unita.it @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unita.it
  20. ^ Casa di Montecarlo, Procura chiede archiviazione Repubblica.it
  21. ↑ Caso Fini Tulliani, Battaglia in Senato
  22. ↑ [1]
  23. ↑ Irrilevanti le carte di Santa Lucia - Bossi su Fini: Abbassare i toni ( Memento of April 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  24. ↑ [2]
  25. ↑ [3]
  26. ↑ Gianfranco e Daniela ostilità dei salotti , Corriere della Sera , June 17 of 2007.
  27. ^ Io, Daniela e Gianfranco L'Espresso , 5/07/2007 ( Memento from October 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  28. ^ Corriere della Sera
  29. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
  30. ^ [4] Corriere della sera November 21, 2005
personal data
SURNAME Fini, Gianfranco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian politician, member of the Camera dei deputati, MEP
DATE OF BIRTH January 3, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Bologna