Italian Court Blocks Construction of U.S. Military Base
On Friday, June 20, just days before the area known as Dal Molin was to be turned over to the U.S. military as the site
for a second base in Vicenza, Italy, the administrative court of the Veneto region ruled to suspend all work. In the
case filed by Codacons, a consumer and environmental advocacy group, the court’s findings included failure to consult
the local population with regard to the decision for the new base, as required by a Memorandum of Understanding between
Italy and the U.S. The court further ruled the apparent “verbal” approval of the project – no formal act has ever been
presented – by the former Prodi government to be extra ordinem and “absolutely incompatible in view of the importance of
the matter and the traditional principals of administrative law.”
The court went on to find that neither the environmental impact of the new base, including increased traffic and
pollution, nor the serious risks posed by the base to major groundwater sources that supply the northeast of Italy have
been sufficiently evaluated. The bidding process for the construction work, which has already been awarded, was also
found to be in violation of Italian and European regulations.
The court’s ruling represents an important victory for the people of Vicenza, who have been working to block
construction of the new U.S. military base for over two years. Since May 2006, when news of the secretive project began
to leak, the people have criticized the complete lack of transparency and democratic practices on the part of both the
local and national governments. And there was a price to pay for the local city government.
In elections held in April, in contrast to national trends where the center- right parties trounced the left, the people
of Vicenza elected the mayoral candidate for the center-left coalition, Achille Variati, after he had promised to hold a
local referendum that would finally allow the people to express themselves and to revoke the previous city council’s
vote on the Dal Molin project.
In fact, on June 26, Vicenza city council, which includes newly-elected member Cinzia Bottene of the No Dal Molin
movement, will vote on Dal Molin, and a mass mobilization will take place on the square below as the people remind their
representatives of the promises made during the election campaign.
The people of Vicenza have also repeatedly expressed alarm over condemned the environmental impact of the base. Their
concerns have been largely shrugged off by both Italian and U.S. authorities, despite the fact that this past March the
pipeline that supplies the U.S. air base at Aviano with kerosene from the port of Livorno and the U.S. base at Camp
Darby, broke near Vicenza and contaminated the Astichello and Bacchiglione rivers.
The court’s ruling, together with the recently declassified report by the U.S. Air Force regarding U.S. nuclear weapon
sites in Europe which revealed “that most sites require significant additional resources to meet DOD security
requirements,” confirm the people’s concerns, and then some!
The struggle is far from over. Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa has already declared that the newly-elected Berlusconi
government will appeal the court’s decision and has every intention of maintaining its “obligations” to the U.S.
But the people remain no less determined to block the construction and defend their territory. The court’s ruling merely
confirmed everything they have been saying for the past two years. And on June 30, as the Dal Molin area is scheduled to
pass from the Italian military to civilian control, the movement will be there to make sure the court’s ruling is
respected and that not one stone is moved.
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Stephanie Westbrook is a founding member of U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice in Rome, Italy and currently serves on the group's coordinating committee. www.peaceandjustice.it