A cycle is ending. And its conclusion will perhaps be more difficult to deal with than that which we have seen and lived in the course of these last four years, from the time we made the decision to lay the first foundations for a nonviolent, transnational cross-party.

We have now received numerous - positive - replies from parliamentarians in almost all parts of the former Communist empire, all of which have arrived in these last few months. On the other hand, neither has our certainly humble participation in a number of difficult situations, and especially in Croatia, been devoid of meaning or results. This, together with our awareness of the need to move up to a higher level within, and also by utilizing, this new political force - however vulnerable it still may be - that will put us in a position to create, together, before the end of the year, the rules for a new Statute adapted to this new dimension, and to set ourselves aims that are as attainable as they are ambitious, and which will strengthen and fuse our various national, cultural, historical and personal characteristics, has made us decide to organize the Radical Party Congress in May.

It is a little like trying to square the circle. And even more so for all us members, old and new, of the Party who have seen with our own eyes just how enormous the obstacles are that have to be overcome.

Starting with those seemingly minor "technical" ones, like language barriers, distance and communication in general, which involve costs that, in spite of all our latest experience and knowledge, are always more prohibitive.

This is something we believe we should give great attention to, and think about at length, in the immediate future.

It is an almost crazy undertaking, and certainly incredibly ambitious, when we think how much of our energy, and eventhe money we have available, has already been invested in the project. It is an endeavour that, even if it risks coming to nothing, has to be undertaken and realized by focussing our individual energies and beliefs on a goal that is as common as it is precise.

We now have 5,000 1992 Radical Party members, to reflect, to discuss things, and to make the most use of the few weeks we have left to prepare for our Congress, in Rome, at the beginning of May. This Congress will constitute the first step in our political refoundation and the creation of our new Statute.

We are convinced that it is only by pushing ourselves really hard that we will be able to better our political and organizational goals, the majority of which have already been achieved, no matter how necessary or appropriate they might have seemed in the past and this is something we have learned from experience.

Time is running out. And we're not here to list all the dramatic events and tragedies that have become a daily occurrence in our world, starting with those taking place in the former Yogoslavia, which are also partially caused by the European institutions that, day after day, delude our expectations, not to mention even the smallest hopes they had - legitimately - inspired in all of us.

There is a tremendous lot at stake, and we have to act now. At the end of March, the tenth term of the Italian Government will come to an end. This means that we will no longer have the possibility of enjoying the government financing allotted to political parties, due to our congressional decision not to participate in further general elections inasmuch as we are the Radical Party.

This brings us to one of the most important - and most problematical - aspects of writing the rules for our new Statute. Apart from this, we will also have to ask ourselves if there is a real possibility of our being able to further - and speed up - the process we have already set in motion.

In other words, is it possible, is it actually conceivable, for a transnational cross-party to be self-financing, that is, financed solely by its members? We also have to ask ourselves this question in relation to the number of new members we will probaly obtain from former Communist countries, that is, countries where, for obvious reasons, the strictly financial return on membership will be marginal compared to the total financing required for our project, at least for a number of years.

It is a question we've been able to partially ignore up until now, in that we have been able to utilize the last "tranches" of government financing allotted to us after having participated in the last Italian general election in 1987.

A Gordian knot, that cannot be loosened by one financial and economic theory as opposed to another, but rather by the political "dimension" of our project. In other words, only if the upward trend in membership that started at the end of 1991 continues, and the political elements and resources are multiplied, with dozens and dozens of ministers and parliamentarians becoming members, and hundreds and thousands of new members and Radical activists becoming part of our project, all over the world, will we be able to define, for everyone's use, the material aspects, as well as the political objectives, of the "Radical Party instrument". We would like everyone to think about this.