ABSTRACT: Chronological table of the initiatives taken by the Radical Party in favour of the creation of a supranational language

(Seminar organized by the Radical Party, Sabaudia 4-8 September 1992)

* December '91 - March '92:

through the newspaper "The New Party" the Radical Party has been carrying out an awareness-raising campaign on the political importance, for democracy, of finding a solution to the international incommunicability among the citizens of Europe and of the world.

* April - May '92:

the 36th Congress of the Radical Party, at the first Commission on "Europe and federalism - The federal Language", analyses the information and problems relative to the linguistic rights and to the role of the International Language Esperanto in safeguarding them. The congress also outlined the lines of transnational political actions "for the right to the language and to the international language" as well as "for a European federal language".

* June '92:

all the heads of delegation of the CSCE states and the participants of the Helsinki meeting are sent a letter where they are asked to include an article on the safeguard of the linguistic identities in the final acts of the negotiations: the participant States underline the belief that friendly relations, peace, democracy and security increasingly depend on the safeguard of the cultural and especially the linguistic identity of the ethnic groups. By recognizing the growing relation between democratic development and the safeguard of human rights, they agree to create the conditions for the promotion and safeguard of such linguistic-cultural identity in the context of international relations. To that end, the States express the opinion that adopting a supranational language is the most appropriate means to guarantee such identity.

* July '92:

Marco Pannella tables a draft Resolution at the European Parliament on the teaching of the International Language Esperanto as instrumental in the learning of foreign languages.

Moreover, the Radical Party has tried to involve the esperantists in this campaign: Esperanto speakers in the world are estimated to be 10-15 million; the greatest organization (with an absolutely neutral statute constitution) is the Universala Esperanto-Asocio, a UNESCO NGO which holds permanent relations with the United Nations and which is formed, for 1991, of 8200 members from 105 States, and some 50 national federations which bring the number of militant and associated esperantists of the UEA to some 30.000 units.

But apart from these figures, other associations should be taken into account, in non-democratic countries such as Iran or China, where the Esperantists that are members of the local associations are estimated at some 500.000. Also, there are some 50 international associations of professional categories. Towards this area the Radical Party has acted in the following way:

* Our newspaper in the International Language was sent to an Esperantist mailing list (4 issues out of 7):

- of these, 450 joined the Radical Party, including important leaders of the Italian and international Esperantist organization, with peaks in Ukraine and Russia (Esperantists operate with continuity from the Radical Party's office in Moscow since last May);

- about 400 people are members or adherents of the Party's Esperantist association;

- some 300 coming from 60 countries at the 7th issue of the newspaper, whereas 317 letters were sent to the party with reference to the other 3 issues sent.

* June and July '92:

the Radical Party (Giorgio Pagano) attended the 1st European Congress of Esperantists in Verona and, in July, the 77th world congress of Esperantists in Vienna;

- the European Esperantist Congress passed a resolution of appreciation of the activity carried out by the Radical party in favour of the International Language;

- while "blocked" by the usual and typical mechanisms of neutrality and non-politicization, the UEA (the aforementioned world association of Esperantists) has several times published on its press organ articles on the Radical Party, announcing, in the last issue, that the UEA would gladly cooperate with the Radical Party on Esperanto.

* This is a summary of the facts and figures which in any case eloquently reveal the considerable ideal and objective proportions of the Esperantist movement to the transnational idea of the New Party.

An echo of the esperantists not only at the personal level but also at a higher associative level of the movement itself; the statements of the Vice President of the UEA on the Radical Party sound as if Amnesty International had declared that it would gladly cooperate with the Radical Party...

But such results also enhance the role of the Radical Party as a point of reference of the Esperantist movement in the world, calling it to a responsibility in the political guide. "Politics" is a word which, until the radical party engaged in the campaign, was banned among the Esperantists on grounds of the most strict neutrality.