From April 25 to May 9 runs a deep and coherent thread in European history.
The Liberation from Nazi-fascism did not represent merely the end of a regime of oppression and a war of annihilation, but the opening of a new political and moral chapter for Europe—a chapter marked by the awareness that the system of sovereign nation-states had produced two world wars, genocides, and unprecedented destruction.
The idea of a free and united Europe was born within the Resistance. It emerged from the concrete experience of those who, fighting against Nazi-fascism, came to understand that freedom could no longer be guaranteed within closed borders and armed sovereignties. It is no coincidence that many key figures of the Liberation struggle—from the prisoners of Ventotene to resistance groups across Europe—envisioned a future based on overcoming the nation-state and building a European federation capable of making the return of war among its members “materially impossible.”
April 25 therefore marks not only a military and political victory, but the beginning of a radical reflection on the European order. From that reflection emerged, just a few years later, the process of European unification, which has a symbolic and founding date: May 9, 1950. With the Schuman Declaration, Europe consciously chose the path of supranational integration by pooling the strategic resources of coal and steel. This was not merely cooperation among states, but the first concrete step toward a federal-type construction, based on common institutions and a shared European general interest.
May 9, Europe Day, is thus a day of celebration and peace, but also of remembrance and commitment. Celebration for a project that has ensured the longest period of peace in the history of our continent; commitment because that project was born incomplete and remains unfinished to this day. The link between April 25 and May 9 is close and inseparable: without Liberation, the process of European integration could not have begun; without strengthening the European Union today, the ideals of the Resistance risk being emptied of meaning.
Like the Resistance, the struggle for a free and united Europe has never been won once and for all. Today, Europe is once again exposed to pressure from major powers, to the threats of new imperialisms, to armed conflicts, and to the return of nationalisms that challenge rights, peace, and solidarity. In this context, relaunching the European project means choosing an independent Europe—one that can do more for its citizens and is capable of acting on the world stage to promote the fundamental values enshrined in the European constitutions that emerged after the war. An Europe that is not subservient to new global powers, but that preserves its own freedom and political autonomy, an essential condition for contributing to the construction of a new global order based on law and peace among peoples.
For this reason, on May 9 federalists will take to the streets in Turin. The demonstration will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the European Union Bridge and will arrive in Piazza Castello, where representatives of associations and political forces will speak from the main stage. We celebrate the Resistance, we celebrate Europe, and we continue the struggle—today as then—for freedom, peace, and rights, with a view to a Europe that is finally federal and independent.