“It’s yet another paradox that the French are the only ones left defending the Italian language,” stated Giorgio Pagano, Secretary of the “Esperanto” Radical Association.
“France’s Francophone association, ‘Avenir,’ after a year-long campaign, has finally gained trilingualism on Avignone’s touristic panels: despite it being a part of the Papal state until 1791, Italian was treated as the third language, beneath English and French. The association, against the “English Only” policy, has been battling against English colonialism, and it is our language – our culture and national identity – that is safeguarded and has risen on a historical and political level, carrying with it all the advantages this brings,” Pagano continued.
“Aside from our gratitude for all those associations like “Avenir” that work for linguistic democracy, I can’t help but ask myself when will our governors take notice of the type of victories which can be obtained by contrasting monopolistic linguistic policies, and remember that the aid accepted by the Court of Justice and the EU will then move away from the totalitarian English imposition and towards the emphasising and boosting our national patrimony in the name of democracy and equal opportunity. Motivated by this recent event, and considering that we have a bilingual region such as Val d’Aosta in our country, it is ridiculous that Italy still has not entered the Francophone system when countries such as Romania have already been included.”