5 JUNE - Italy: Rome - Antimilitarism
Radical antimilitarists "forecast" a very unusual demonstration against the traditional military parade on 5 June. This year, instead of the customary ironical counter-parade of antimilitarists with saucepans and pitchforks, the Radicals announced that it was going to rain buckets. The violent storm that was unleashed on the city that day did not actually prevent the military parade from taking place, but it was reported, along with the antimilitarists’ forecast, on television world-wide.
28-29 JUNE: Germany - Hanover - European Federalism
Demonstration at the summit of the Heads of State and Government of the EEC, in which Sergio Stanzani and over 300 activists from Italy participate.
The Heads of State and Government do not even examine the proposal for the General States approved by the European Parliament. Stanzani and the Radical deputies denounce the outrage committed by the European Council against the EP.
JULY - France/Germany - Media - Buying Space
An appeal by the RP, which occupies a full page purchased in Le Monde and in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , affirms that the fate of the European Community, also in view of the single internal market envisaged for 1992, is inextricably linked to the elimination of the "democratic deficit" in its institutions. The appeal called for a real EC Government capable of rising above nationalism and the bureaucratic resistance of Member States; and a European Parliament with real legislative powers concerning control and policy.
19-20 JULY - Italy: Rome - Transnational RP Convention
Convention and conference entitled:
"1992: The Peoples’ Europe - beyond the frontiers, the parties, the national States". "The transnational party: why, how, with whom".
20-24 JULY - Italy: Grottaferrata - RP Federal Council
The reports of the Secretary and the Treasurer focalize the serious financial crisis experienced by the Party and the inadequacy of the self-financing methods tried so far, especially with regard to transforming the Party into a transnational movement.
The committee appointed at the Madrid Federal Council presents the new symbol: a graphic of Gandhi’s face composed of the words "Radical Party" translated in dozens of languages.
The Final Motion blocks all activities programmed by the Bologna motion and, at the same time, launches an extraordinary self-financing and membership campaign, necessitated by the severe financial crisis and the shortage of members. It also authorizes the Secretary and the Treasurer to determine, in the eventuality, the procedures for winding up the Party.
It establishes Zagreb as the venue for the next Congress.
28 JULY - Italy: Rome - Death Penalty
Joan Baez takes part in the torchlight procession undertaken by Thou Shalt Not Kill to save Paula Cooper’s life.
16-18 AUGUST - Czechoslovakia - Human Rights, Eastern Europe
Four groups of Radicals, including MEP Negri, go to as many Czechoslovakian cities (Brno, Prague, Ceske Budejovice, Kolin) to distribute 10,000 leaflets in favour of liberty and democracy, on the 20 th anniversary of the Prague Spring. A number of the Radicals were expelled for life.
On 18 August a demonstration is held in St. Wenceslas Square, in Prague, at which a banner, 20 metres wide, is unfurled. The Radicals are forced by the police to read their leaflet and hold up their banners in front of the TV cameras. State television shows the dangerous terrorists to viewers, and puts words into their mouths.
20 AUGUST - Italy: Rome - Human Rights - Czechoslovakia
Together with numerous Czech exiles, the Comitato Italiano Helsinki and the RP, hold a torchlight procession on the 20 th anniversary of the Prague Spring.
24 AUGUST - Czechoslovakia: Prague - Democracy
Government spokesman Pavel, following a mass demonstration held by Czech citizens on 21 August and severely repressed by the police, accuses the "Italian" Radical Party of having prepared the "ground." Pannella denies the accusation - which he considers "flattering" - and points out that such manifestations cannot take place without the consensus of the masses.
25-28 AUGUST - Poland: Cracow - Human Rights
Sergio Stanzani , Olivier Dupuis , and Giovanna Marrone attend the International Conference on Human Rights organized by Solidarity and Wolnosc i Pokoj - Freedom and Peace. (Paolo Pietrosanti, expelled for life from Poland following a 1986 demonstration, is stopped at Warsaw airport and sent back to Italy). The Radical proposal to create in the European Parliament a standing delegation of the Polish opposition is approved. Radical members hold a meeting.
2 SEPTEMBER - Yugoslavia - Zagreb - RP CONGRESS
A contract is stipulated between the Kompas travel agency and the Radical Party, in Zagreb. The contract contains a number of clauses that circumvent the regulations laid down by the authorities with regard to the people to whom they have refused entry.
SEPTEMBER EP - Strasbourg - European Federalism
Solemn declaration approved on the initiative of the Radicals: all EC citizens, from any country in the Community, have the right to stand for the European Parliament.
Secretary Stanzani announces, in a statement and press release, the RP’s intention to hold its congress in Yugoslavia - in Zagreb - as part of its "commitment to the resolution of the Yugoslav crisis, and to Yugoslavia’s entry in the Common Market". (NRA)
23 SEPTEMBER - Italy: Rome - Congress
After having requested a meeting with the Yugoslav Ambassador for over a week, Stanzani and Vigevano are received by Embassy counsellor Bozic, who engages himself to forward the documentation concerning the proposed Congress to Belgrade and to suggest a meeting between Radical leaders and Yugoslav Government organs.
They were later to learn that the documentation had not been forwarded because the Yugoslav Embassy in Rome considered it useless.
23 SEPTEMBER EP - Strasbourg - Federalism
On the initiative of the Radicals the European Parliament approves, by a large majority, a declaration asking that any EEC citizen, from any Member State, be allowed to run for office, from the next elections onwards.
27 SEPTEMBER - Greece: Athens - Conscientious Objection
In view of the discussion in the Committee on Petitions, meeting in Athens, of the "Dupuis" petition on conscientious objection in the European Community, and following the mobilization to support the first Greek "political" objector, Mikailis Maragakis, the Greek Government is obliged to present a related bill.
Roberto Cicciomessere visits Maragakis in prison.
29-30 SEPTEMBER - Belgium - Brussels - Antiprohibtionism
International conference on antiprohibitionism attended by Jurists, doctors, criminologists, journalists and European and American experts.
SEPTEMBER - Italy - Federalism
Signatures collected on two petitions: one in view of the Rhodes summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Community; the other for the right to vote of all citizens in the various countries of the Community, and to defend and uphold the rights of non-EEC citizens.
12 OCTOBER - Belgium: Brussels - Congress in Yugoslavia
Giovanni Negri meets with the Yugoslav Ambassador at the European Parliament and explains why the Radicals wish to hold their Congress in Zagreb. (APR)
13 OCTOBER - Italy: Rome - Death Penalty
The organization Thou Shalt Not Kill holds press conference with Bill Pelke, grandson of Paula Cooper’s victim. Pelke "has forgiven Paula and is campaigning to save her life".
13 OCTOBER - Yugoslavia - Belgrade
The spokesman for the Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vajgel declares, during a weekly conference, that "foreign" political parties are not permitted to engage in activities in Yugoslavia.
14 OCTOBER - Yugoslavia - Slovenia - Media
Delo , Slovenia’s most important daily newspaper, publishes a Jure Pengov interview with Marco Pannella.
14 OCTOBER - Italy: Rome - Human Rights, Romania
International convention on the theme: "Romania: the violation of human rights under Ceausescu", organized by the Comitato Italiano Helsinki, the RP and others.
15 OCTOBER - Yugoslavia: Croatia - Media, Appeal
Predrag Matvejevic, writer, polemicist and member of the RP, launches an appeal, in the Zagreb daily Vjesnik , in favour of Yugoslavia’s becoming a member of the Common Market,.
18-19 OCTOBER - Israel: Jerusalem - Media
Three Israeli newspapers carry an article by Marco Pannella on Israel’s becoming a member of the "United States of Europe" and on the upcoming Radical Party meeting in Jerusalem.
18 OCTOBER - Yugoslavia/Slovenia - Radical Organization
The RP is legal recognized, within the sphere of the ZSMS (Socialist Youth Alliance of Slovenia) in Ljubljana, under the name "Radical Group for the United States of Europe Initiative".
20-23 OCTOBER - Israel: Jerusalem - RP Federal Council
The Secretary and Treasurer tender their resignations, declaring that at least 900 million lira in self-financing is necessary to complete the political year. Stanzani also stresses: "the impossibility of creating within the Party, in its present form, organizational and operative structures that are essential to its new dimension, and the great difficulty in organizing political initiatives that involve and motivate the public...
The FC refuses to accept the resignations of the Secretary and the Treasurer and, in two deliberations, mandates the Secretary and Treasurer to arrange the procedures necessary for the winding up of the Party and its liquidation with a view to paying all debts incumbent on the Party, and "to create immediately a Foundation with the aim of affirming fundamental human rights in the spirit of the principles that inspire, and have inspired, Radical action".
Secretary Stanzani appoints as Vice-Secretary of the RP Basile Guissou, former Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso, who joined the Party in 1986.
Zagreb is confirmed as the choice for the venue of the Congress.
12 OCTOBER - EP - Strasbourg - Human Rights in Eastern Europe
On the initiative of the Radicals the Intergroup for Human Rights in Eastern Europe is constituted with thirty MEPs, in the European Parliament.
31 OCTOBER - Italy: Rome - Congress in Yugoslavia
In the absence of written responses, the Radicals confirm their intention of holding the next Congress in Yugoslavia. Embassy counsellor Bozic sends a transcription of Vajgel’s statement to the press to the Radical party.
25 NOVEMBER - Italy: Rome - Congress in Yugoslavia, Media
Marco Pannella holds a press conference on the planned Congress in Yugoslavia, and is interviewed by Yugoslav journalists Miograd Paskuci ( Oslobodjenje - Sarajevo), Silvio Tomasevic ( Vjesnik - Zagreb) and Mattias Mainiero ( Giornale d’Italia ).
30 NOVEMBER - Belgium: Brussels - Federalism
A pamphlet with a letter signed by Stanzani, is sent to the 7,000 members of parliament in EEC countries. The letter calls for the initiative for the United States of Europe be re-launched in national Parliaments, and invites all parliamentarians to the Radical Congress in Yugoslavia.
Sixty-three MEPs have already announced that they intend to participate in the Congress, and send a letter to Yugoslav Premier Branko Mikulic informing him of the fact.
30 NOVEMBER - Italy: Rome - Romania
Demonstration outside the Romanian Embassy to protest against the Ceausescu regime’s politics: destruction of villages; deportation programmes; discrimination against ethnic minorities, and the violation of all the civil rights sanctioned by the Helsinki Final Act.
Romanian historian Mihnea Berindei and Hungarian writer François Fejto also take part.
NOVEMBER - Italy: Rome - Federalism
On the initiative of the Radicals, the Chamber unanimously approves the Martinazzoli Law that recognizes the right of every EEC citizen to present themselves, in Italy, as candidates for the European Parliamentary elections.
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER - Italy - Europe
Campaign undertaken for Pannella to become EEC Commissioner.
8 DECEMBER - Yugoslavia-Slovenia - Radical Congress, Media
The weekly Mladina (published in Ljubljana) publishes a long interview with Marco Pannella in which he talks about the Radical Party. Following official rumours that the Yugoslav Government intends to veto the Congress because the Radical Party is a foreign party, Pannella reminds readers that other Radical meetings have been held in Yugoslavia, where there are also many members of the Radical Party.
13 DECEMBER - Italy: Rome - Human Rights in Poland
Seven years after a state of war was declared in Poland, a demonstration is held to have Solidarity recognized.
Hundreds of Polish refugees take part, carrying torches and placards in various languages.
Demonstration by Polish Radicals together with the Club of the Prisoners of Frontiers, on the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Participants also denounce the sentencing of Polish Radical Krzysztof Galinski to two months hard labour "for the possession of magazines on vegetarianism".
17 DECEMBER - Europe - Congress in Yugoslavia
Press agencies give out the news: Yugoslav Premier Mikulic has officially said no to the XXXV RP Congress being held in Yugoslavia.
Meanwhile, an imposing group of intellectuals and leading personalities from the world of culture and politics render public the text of an appeal - first signatory: Eugene Ionesco - asking Yugoslavia "to welcome the invaluable opportunity for dialogue offered by the Radical Congress".
At that very moment Marco Pannella in Belgrade, and has placed himself at the complete disposal of the Yugoslav authorities to try and establish that dialogue.
19 DECEMBER - Borders between Italy, Yugoslavia and Austria
Dozens of Radical activists from Israel, Portugal, Belgium and other European countries unfurl (in the "no man’s land" between the Italian-Yugoslav customs at Fernetti and the Italian-Austrian-Yugoslav customs at the Wuerzen Pass) banners in favour of the abolition of frontiers, of Yugoslavia and Austria entering the Common Market, and the Radical Congress being held in Zagreb.
A similar protest is held in Brussels during a meeting of EEC Foreign Ministers with their Yugoslav counterpart.
20 DECEMBER - Yugoslavia/Slovenia - RP Congress
Following an interpellation by a Ljubljana deputy in which he attacked the Federal Government and proposed that the Radical Party Congress be held in Slovenia, the President of the Ljubljana Parliament declared a certain willingness, on Slovenia’s part, and committed Parliament to giving a definite answer before 27 December.
Delo , the Ljubljana daily, and Primorske Novice of Koper devote considerable space to the event.
21 DECEMBER - Brussels - RP Congress
The 63 MEPs who announced their intention to attend the Congress in Zagreb, reply to a letter from Yugoslav Premier Mikulic stating that the Radicals are not permitted to hold their Congress in Zagreb, for legal reasons and motives concerning "law and order".
The MEPs consider the veto and the reasons given by Mikulic to be "extremely serious"; and renew their request.
21 DECEMBER - Italy: Rome - Antiprohibitionism
March and torchlight procession against prohibitionism regarding drugs, and to uphold justice, law and order, the right to life and citizens’ rights.
27 DECEMBER - Yugoslavia: Zagreb - Radical Congress
Vitomir Cesmadziski, a Radical Activist from Zagreb, is summonsed and subjected to harsh interrogation by the Croatian police who ask him, among other things, to reveal the names of Radicals in Yugoslavia.
28 DECEMBER Italy: Rome - Human Rights, Afghanistan
On the 9 th anniversary of the Soviet invasion, the Radicals take part in a torchlight procession to support the Afghan people, and for peace and freedom in Afghanistan.
DECEMBER ’88 - Italy: Rome - Federalism
The Italian Chamber unanimously approves, on the initiative of the Radicals and the Movimento Federalista Europeo (European Federalist Movement), a law providing for a referendum to be held on the political union of Europe and for constituent powers to be invested in the European Parliament, contemporaneously with European parliamentary elections.
Secretary Stanzani and Treasurer Vigevano are joined by 630 citizens from various countries on a hunger strike to obtain permission to hold the Radical Congress in Zagreb.
30 DECEMBER - Europe: Brussels/Madrid/Lisbon/Rome/Milan/Trieste - Radical Congress
Demonstrations are held simultaneously outside Yugoslav legations and European flags with thirteen stars are presented (the thirteenth symbolizing Yugoslavia’s much-desired accession to the EEC).
In the meantime, the RP Secretariat announces that the Federal Council has been convened in Trieste on 2 January, and will take the necessary decisions with regard to the venue for the Congress.
