(Courtesy translation) The anniversary of the Bois du Cazier tragedy, which occurred on August 8, 1956, constitutes a key moment in the life of Italian communities around the world, as a symbol of their extraordinary contribution to the welfare of their host countries and their efforts to integrate through work.
It is so for Marcinelle, it is so for all the other tragedies of Italian emigration, such as that of the U.S. Monongah mine, which already in 1907 had cost the lives of hundreds of our compatriots.
The vivid memory of these catastrophes spurs us to pursue with ever greater commitment, at the national and supranational levels, a common path of building a clear and inflexible regulatory framework and controls to put an end to the scourge of occupational accidents.
I have visited the Marcinelle site many times and always with great emotion, as Vice President of the European Commission and as President of the European Parliament. I did not want to miss doing so, last year, also as Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
On all these occasions it was always an honor for me to bring the country’s homage to the memory of the victims and the comfort of the whole of Italy to the grief of the families.
The Italian government established in 2001, on the day of this sad anniversary, the National Day of the Sacrifice of Italian Labor in the World, to pay tribute to the many Italians who with dedication and courage have held high the name of Italy abroad, often at the cost of great personal and family sacrifices.
A commitment of which our compatriots – from the oldest communities to the protagonists of the new mobility – are still today interpreters everywhere in the world, where they bring the mastery of Italian know-how together with the pride of their roots.
But with its high toll of victims who were also Belgian, Polish, Greek, German, French, Hungarian, British, Russian, Ukrainian and Algerian, Marcinelle – which happened a few months before the signing of the Treaties of Rome – is above all a European tragedy.
I want to start from here, from this wound still present in the collective memory of our continent to create consensus in the European Parliament – also thanks to the work of the Italian parliamentary delegation – so that this date also becomes a “European Day” of Remembrance.
At Marcinelle, united in tragedy, 262 miners from 12 different countries perished.
It is up to us, united in commitment, to honor their memory and work to ensure that such tragedies never happen again.
For a Europe of work and growth, with the person always at the center.
Antonio Tajani