Vienna/Rome, Jan 23 (DPA) Hidden away in the northern Italian Alps, a small village is planning a big revolution against mighty Rome.
In a wake-up call to the capital, the village of San Pietro di Cadore, unhappy with the lack of attention – and money – from Rome, said it wanted to join Italy’s northern neighbour Austria. Becoming an Austrian enclave would be the only option for the ailing community.
If mayor Silvano Pontil Scala had his way, the 1,800 village inhabitants would – figuratively speaking – pack up and move to Austria, despite lack of joint borders, language or history.
“San Pietro di Cadore does not border with any of the autonomous provinces, so people said, why don’t we seek to join Austria which lies to our north and where we are bound to be treated better than in Italy?” Scala said.
“As mayor, I have sworn allegiance to the Italian constitution and cannot be seen to support any secessionist movement, but I told my fellow citizens that if they want to try to join Austria then I wouldn’t stand in their way,” the mayor told DPA.
And obstacles there are many: one is geography. San Pietro di Cadore is separated from Austria by 60 km of mountainous terrain.
Secessionist tendencies are nothing new in the region, but San Pietro’s bold assertion is unique in its total lack of links to its prospective future mother country.
Being part of the Veneto region, San Pietro’s only tenacious link to Austria is a short stint in the 19th century, when the Veneto was part of the Habsburg monarchy.
No German? No problem, Scala thinks. “This is the least of our problems,” the mayor said.
People were fed up, wanting to get away not only from the Veneto, but from Italy altogether, Scala said, adding that his poor community has been forgotten by the authorities in far-away Rome.
“Our people’s grievances are legitimate because mountain towns in Italy are being abandoned by the state,” the mayor said.
Nestled on the slopes in a narrow valley of the Belluno region, San Pietro is a pretty sight, but the only thing left to do was visit the local tavern as the infrastructure was crumbling and there were no jobs in the village, locals complained.
Rome was to blame. Taxes paid in the north were used to prop up the poor south. “Here in the Veneto for every 10 euros collected from us, we are lucky if we get two back,” Scala said.
Several communities already voiced their wish to join richer regions like Friuli Venezia Giulia or Trentino Alto Adige or South Tyrol.
“All you have to do is take a 45-minute drive to the nearest town in Trentino Alto Adige and you can visibly see the riches they have at their disposal for development. Riches that we just don’t have.”
South Tyrol, part of the Austro-Hungarian empire until the end of World War I, is popular with other communities as the province enjoys far-reaching tax autonomy.
Eight communities in recent months held referendums in favour of a move. The latest and most prominent example is the ski resort Cortina d’Ampezzo, convinced that a rich community like itself would receive a warm welcome in South Tyrol.
Scepticism came not only from neighbouring villages and local politicians, but Scala himself remained realistic enough to see it was difficult, if not impossible, for the initiative to succeed.
But “it was meant as a message to Rome to scrap the special privileges given to the autonomous provinces … Unfortunately Rome is not listening to our message,” he said.
In Austria, San Pietro’s case met with large media interest, and head scratching by constitution experts.
According to Bernd-Christian Funk from the legal department of Vienna University this “hypothetical case” was theoretically possible.
“It would be theoretically possible, if one concluded a treaty according to international law with Italy, and then made the necessary modifications in Austria’s constitutional legislation,” Funk said.
But, he added, it remained a matter of debate if such action was in line with Austria’s State Treaty of 1955 that says Austria’s territory was fixed to the pre-1938 borders.
“There’s been no contact with Austrian officials or political leaders as this situation is too delicate,” Scala said.