From 11 March 2013 the then Minister Terzi had made it official that the affair of the two marines had to be managed with recourse to international arbitration and had made the intention official also to India through a verbal note.
In recent months, the ambassador himself and many others of us committed to keeping attention on the fate of our naval fusiliers have returned to the subject also supported by the thoughts of distinguished academic experts in the sector.
Absolute silence on the part of the institutions responsible for managing the affair, starting from Prime Minister Letta up to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bonino, all of whom are instead committed to remind us, with a cyclical expiry, of a fair and rapid process.
The same commissioner of government dr. Staffan de Mistura, on various occasions, constantly expressed his opposition to start the arbitration as it would have been necessary very long times, even years. He also confirmed this on the occasion of a radio broadcast Zapping 2.0 of Rai, to which he also intervened to follow the writer. I allowed myself not to share the pessimistic predictions of dr. de Mistura. In fact, everything could be started in a maximum time 60 to 90 days.
Today, Defense Minister Mario Mauro informs us through ANSA that "the international arbitration hypothesis is being explored" and reiterates that it is necessary "to do everything to clarify", as the episode under discussion took place in international waters so "opens an international dispute to be managed in an international context" and reiterated the need for the "internationalization of the dispute that must be put into a system".
At this point it is natural to ask why for over ten months we have persisted in not starting arbitration, now recognized as a valid path also by the defense minister and by parliamentarians who were part of the delegation that recently went to Delhi, as explicitly stated and also published on FB by the honorable Domenico Rossi.
Various hypotheses. It can range from the defense of personal interests to the error of assessment. In fact, there may be the possibility that by setting up arbitration other documents may be made public, such as those published by Libero two days ago, such as to create some discomfort in someone or affect the interests of the lobby.
If, on the other hand, there has been an error of assessment on the timing and feasibility of carrying out the request for arbitration, then it is time for those who made the mistake to leave the scene and take care of something else!
Fernando Termentini
