Meeting between Austria's Chancellor Nehammer and Italy's Prime Minister Draghi in Merano Canceled
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the second South Tyrolean autonomy statute, the meeting between Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi will not take place as planned.
The important meeting between Austria's Chancellor Nehammer and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi, was canceled due to the fall of the Draghi government in July. / Picture: © Wikipedia / January
This is a setback for the 50th anniversary of the second South Tyrolean autonomy statute. This means that the star guests at the ceremony to mark the anniversary will no longer be present.
In 2022, South Tyrol will look back on half a century of the Second Statute of Autonomy. In 1972, the new autonomy statute, also known as the South Tyrol Package, came into force, forming the basis for minority protection in South Tyrol. Thirty years ago, in 1992, the formal end of the South Tyrol dispute was raised before the UN followed by the settlement of the dispute by Austria vis-à-vis Italy.
The 50 years of the Second Statute of Autonomy and the 30 years of dispute settlement provide an occasion for an anniversary celebration of one of the most important moments of diplomacy between Italy and Austria.
The long-projected meeting between Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi was canceled due to the fall of the Draghi government in July. This was reported by a press spokesman for Draghi, according to ORF.
Meanwhile, the province of South Tyrol also confirmed Nehammer's and Draghi's cancellations "due to the current political developments in Italy and Austria," according to the statement. However, both would be represented "by high-ranking members of the government," which is why the state's ceremony would take place as planned, it was stressed in a statement.