News
Good Things Hitler Did Reddit Play
Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini 'built roads' in Italy and achieved other 'positive things' before following Adolf Hitler into war, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani has said. His remarks prompted outrage.
Antonio Tajani, the Italian politician who serves as president of the European Parliament, faced backlash on Thursday over his praise of fascist leader Benito Mussolini. The dictator had ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 and was a key ally of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
'Mussolini? Before he declared war on the entire world, following Hitler; before he introduced racial laws… he did some positive things to build infrastructure in our country,' Tajani told Italian Radio24.
Read more:Italian parliament marks 80 years since racial laws targeted Jews
The fascist leader 'built roads, bridges, buildings, sports facilities,' and reclaimed large swaths of Italy from marshes, Tajani added. 'If we look at concrete facts, we can't say he hasn't achieved anything.'
Reddit gives you the best of the internet in one place. Get a constantly updating feed of breaking news, fun stories, pics, memes, and videos just for you. Passionate about something niche? Reddit has thousands of vibrant communities with people that share your interests. Alternatively, find out what’s trending across all of Reddit on r/popular. Dec 12, 2019 Hitler appeared on the cover of TIME on multiple occasions — most famously perhaps on Jan. 2, 1939, when he was named Man of the Year. That choice abided by the dictum of TIME founder Henry Luce.
At the same time, Tajani admitted Mussolini was 'no champion of democracy.' The European Parliament head also decried anti-Jewish laws as 'crazy' and the declaration of war as 'an act of suicide.'
Good Things Hitler Did Reddit Get
Tajani is deputy leader of Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing Forza Italia.
Leftist leader says remarks 'unbelievable'
In response, senior EU lawmaker Udo Bullmann called Tajani's statement 'unbelievable.'
'How can a president of the European Parliament fail to acknowledge the nature of fascism?' Bullmann wrote on Twitter. Bulman is the leader of the social democratic bloc in the EU assembly.
Tajani fired back, saying he had always been 'a convinced anti-fascist.'
Good Things Hitler Accomplished
'Shame on those who manipulate what I've allegedly said on fascism,' he wrote. 'The fascist dictatorship, racial laws and deaths it caused are the darkest page in Italian and European history.'
Italy - Outlawing Mussolini glorification
'Long live Italian Dalmatia'
This is the second time this year Tajani has prompted outrage with historically charged statements. Last month, he angered EU members Slovenia and Croatia by referring to parts of the countries' territories as 'Italian.'
In the past, Italy controlled regions of Istria and Dalmatia, but the Adriatic areas went to Yugoslavia after World War II and later passed to its successor states. At a memorial event for alleged victims of the Yugoslav army in February, Tajani ended his speech with 'Long live Italian Istria, long live Italian Dalmatia.'
He eventually apologized, telling EU lawmakers his words were 'in no way a territorial claim.'
'I was referring to Istrian and Dalmatian Italian-speaking exiles, their children and grandchildren, many of whom were present at the ceremony,' he said.
dj/sms (dpa, AFP)