A Desire for Independence

Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus latest countries to join the European Union

On May 1, Slovenia, Malta, and Cyprus joined the European Union with seven other countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland).
Slovenia's luck is that of being an outsider. Slovenia (capital: Ljubljana) has been entertaining relations with Italy since ancient times.
Not only because in the first century C.E. it became a province of the Roman Empire, but also because it remained, ever since in the area of influence of Aquileia, one of the most populous and strategically located cities of the Empire. It remained just as strategic even in later years (despite the repeated devastation wrought first by Attila and then the Lombards); it lent its name to the Friulian Patriarchy (known as 'Patriarchy of Aquileia'), one of the most solid and durable political-religious structures of the second millennium.
The Patriarchy reached out to Klagenfurt in Austria and Ljubljana in Slovenia, so Italians from Friuli, Austrians, and Slovenians always developed close relations among them, including trade, cultural, and linguistic. In this territory, a sort of transnational region, the three souls of Europe - the Latin, the Germanic, and the Slavic - merged. Traces of this merging are everywhere, in architecture, customs, idioms, ideas, even food.
That's why for Slovenia, even more than the other new members, joining the EU is a homecoming. In the recent past, rigid borders and even more rigid ideological barriers were keeping it aside, but Slovenians, Italians of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Austrians of Kärnten never stopped their dialogue, even across those barriers.
After being ruled in turn by the Bavarians, Franks and Magyars, the Slovenians were annexed to the Habsburg lands and slowly Germanized. When Charles V divided the Empire in 1521, Slovenia was incorporated in Austria, and it remained a part of Austria until 1809, when Napoleon included it in the Illyric Provinces he created following his victories over the Empires of Central Europe. When Napoleon fell, the Congress of Vienna (1814) returned Slovenia to the Habsburg, under whose rule the country remained until 1918, when the Empire was dissolved following World War I.
From then on, Slovenia gravitated in the Yugoslavian area. After the war, in fact, a national convention in Zagreb proclaimed the union of the kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro with the lands of Croatia and Slovenia, formerly part of the Austrian Empire. The new state, which from 1929 took the name of Yugoslavia, assumed the form of a constitutional monarchy under the Serbian dynasty of the Karageorgevic.
At the outbreak of World War II, after a period of neutrality Yugoslavia sided with Germany and Italy in March 1941, but within days a group of anti-Nazi officers toppled the government. The king supported the coup and appointed General Simovic as new Prime Minister. Hitler reacted immediately: fearing an alliance between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, he had his troops occupy the country with a lightning-speed campaign, forcing the king and the government to flee to London. Yugoslavia was partitioned and Slovenia was split between Germany and Italy.
The Yugoslavs reacted to the invasion and partitioning of their country with determination, creating a strong partisan army where Josip Broz, aka Tito, soon became the leader. After winning the war (Yugoslavia was the only occupied country to liberate on its own), the elections of November 1945 gave a majority to pro-Communist parties that supported Tito. Monarchy was abolished and the People's Republic of Yugoslavia (capital: Belgrade) was established. Slovenia became a federated republic, with an expanded territory, the peace treaty assigned her a portion of Venezia Giulia.
That expansion was for decades an open wound in the relationship between Italians and Slovenians. The traumatic partition of Venezia Giulia requested by Belgrade had the city of Gorizia cut in two (Gorizia and Nova Gorica), resulting in the killing of thousands of Italians who were thrown into the "foibe" (crevices in the landscape), the inhuman alternative to "Who wants to stay must become a Yugoslav, otherwise, leave in 24 hours". Many older people still feel the sting of this wound.
Despite this, the dialogue continued. Finally, a couple of months ago, the wall separating Gorizia from Nova Gorica fell, and young people on both sides began looking to a common future, because they cannot live on memories and rancour.
For close to 40 years Tito kept Yugoslavs together: he had charisma and managed to steer the country away from subservience to Moscow without renouncing its Socialist structure. This success had brought on Yugoslavia the attention and financing of the West and the respect of the East. Not, however, the benevolence of Moscow.
After Tito's death in 1980, strong separatist voices emerged in most of the republics in the Federation. Slovenia, which relied on a relatively stronger economy, was one of the first to declare independence from Belgrade. It did so in 1991. Belgrade did not accept the secession, and sent the army to occupy Slovenia. That occupation was short-lived, however, as soon the Federal government realized the futility of fighting, and recognized the independence. Belgrade made an opportunistic decision: it had bigger fish to fry, trying to cope with much more violent separatist movements (such as the one in Croatia). However, it was also the fruit of a political, even cultural, consideration: Slovenia had never been a Balkan state, always a European one. It was an outsider in Yugoslavia. This was a bit of luck, however, because it kept the country out of the long and bloody dissolution of Yugoslavia.
Cyprus, rich in history but not in goodwill
The history of Cyprus (capital: Nicosia) has always been conditioned by geography. Almost completely enveloped by the coastline of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, not far from Egypt and projected toward the Middle East, for centuries it drew the interested attention of its neighbours, as well of the Europeans, especially Britain, Venice, and Genoa. It was the ideal bridgehead to rich markets and a solid military outpost in the Eastern Mediterranean.
As early as the Iron Age, Achaean and Dorians occupied it; then came the first Egyptian domination, then the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, the Persians. Three hundred years before the Common Era, Pnitagora king of Cyprus noticed the rising fortune of Alexander the Great and put the Cyprus fleet at his service, thus entering the Macedonian sphere. After Alexander's death, the island fell again under Egyptian rule, and adopted its religious customs. A few decades before the Christian era, the Romans brought it under its influence, and in 58 b.C.E. turned it into a colony.
Diocletian assigned Cyprus to Byzantium, and the island remained Byzantine until the 7th century, when the Arabs occupied it, keeping control for 300 years. During the Third Crusade, in 1191, Richard the Lionheart occupied the island and turned it into a staging area for the assault on the Holy Land, but soon thereafter he gave it to the Knights Templars.
Its geographical position, very close to the rich Eastern markets, made Genoa and Venice compete for Cyprus. The winner was Venice; in 1488 a Venetian noblewoman, Caterina Cornaro, became queen of Cyprus. However, the Venetians' stay in Cyprus was far from a cakewalk, because they had to face a powerful enemy, poised to overrun the Mediterranean and Europe: the Turks. The Venetians fought heroically, but were forced back by the overwhelming strength of the enemy. For months, General Marcantonio Bragadin held the armies of the Crescent Moon at bay, but in 1571 he was betrayed, captured, tortured, and skinned alive on the main square of Famagusta. Cyprus fell.
It remained under the Turks for three more centuries, until, in 1878, Britain obtained a 99-year lease from the Turkish government. The island had once again become strategic in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the decline of the Ottoman Empire. After World War II, Cyprus became the hotbed of obstinate and often violent tension between a Greek majority and a strong Turkish minority. Trying to clarify the issue, a referendum was held in 1950, and a majority of the voters declared their support for annexation to Greece. Britain offered internal autonomy guaranteed by its own military control, but this raised the ire of Greece, which wanted complete sovereignty over the island, and Turkey, which pushed partition between Greeks and Turks.
The three most delicate decades of Cyprus' history had Archbishop Makarios as the protagonist. He was repeatedly appointed as Prime Minister and President, and he managed to get Greece and Turkey to strike a deal on the future of the island and to reach an agreement with Britain that, in exchange for some military basing rights, granted independence in 1960. That gave rise to the Democratic Republic of Cyprus, immediately recognized by the international community.
Ethnic tension, however, did not abate, as both Greece and Turkey fomented it. Two events would have severe repercussions both in Cyprus and abroad: on July 15, 1974, a coup inspired by the military junta then in power in Athens toppled the legitimate government of Cyprus, and Makarios, who was Prime Minister at the time, had to flee to London. In response, five days later a contingent of 40,000 Turkish soldiers occupied the island and reached the capital, Nicosia, which was cut in two. The chasm opened by these events would never be closed. It became even wider in 1984, when the Turkish community unilaterally decided to separate from the Greek one. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognized only by Ankara and occupying some 40 percent of the island) was born.
Despite the 2002 offer to join the European Union had been addressed to both parts of Cyprus, only the Greek part of the island accepted. The Turkish community declined. Unity, which could have been achieved sooner in Europe, is still entrusted to the future and human goodwill (if there will be any).

The Knights of Malta facing Islam
Malta (capital: La Valletta) is the most Italian of all non-Italian islands. Not only because it became a Roman municipium in 218 b.C.E., but also because from then on it lived as if in symbiosis with Sicily (90 kilometres away), undergoing the same dominations by the Vandals, Goths, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Anjou, and Aragonians. This lasted until 1530, when Emperor Charles V gave it to the Knights of Jerusalem that stayed until 1798 and even changed their official name to Knights of Malta.
The complete name reads as Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, and its origins date back to a hospice founded in Jerusalem by some Christian knights at the time of the First Crusade in order to assist European pilgrims visiting the holy city. This promotional initiative had great success. It gave rise to the Order of the Knights of Jerusalem, rigorously military and religious, which distinguished itself in epic military deeds and in great charity works. For these, the Order received generous donations from all over Christianity, and became extremely rich.
From the political standpoint the Order soon grew in power, obtaining immediate recognition from the Pope and protection from kings and emperors. For close to three centuries it stayed in Jerusalem, then, when the Muslim pressure became overwhelming, it moved to Rhodes where it remained for two more centuries, becoming a territorial power organized as an aristocratic republic. It was led by a Grand Master, who was also the Sovereign of Rhodes, and a council that ruled the island. The name changed to Knights of Rhodes, the Order began issuing its own currency, entertaining diplomatic relations with other states, and organizing (with its huge financial resources) its own army and navy in defense of Christendom.
Again, the Knights distinguished themselves for their charity work and military prowess, often raiding the coasts of Islam. Repeatedly, Muslim forces tried to eject them from Rhodes. They were repeatedly beaten back. Even the powerful Mahomet II, who came in 1480 with an enormous fleet, was literally destroyed. Finally, Suleiman the Magnificent launched the strongest assault in 1522, and despite their strenuous fight the Knights had to surrender and leave Rhodes. They stayed for awhile in Crete, then Charles V offered them Malta, where they took another new name and remain until today.
Once again the Knights continued in their traditional role of stemming the Ottoman expansion, and their history intertwined with the history of this last island. It was fortified under Grand Master Jean Parisot de La Vallette (in his honour the current capital city of the island was founded) and managed to repel a Turkish assault in 1565. Six years later, in 1571, the fleet of the Knights joined the Holy League in the great victory at Lepanto, the largest naval battle between Islam and Christendom; later, they were part of Jan Sokieski's army that stopped the Turkish advance in 1683 under the walls of Vienna.
This massive commitment contributed to increasing the prestige of the Order, and its Grand Master was given the dignity of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, a rank equivalent to Cardinal, and the title of Eminence. That was the period of greatest splendour for the Maltese archipelago (in addition to Malta, it includes Gozo and numerous other islets).
Decadence began with the arrival of Napoleon, who occupied the island in 1798 and expelled the Knights. When two years later the island was recaptured by the Portuguese and British fleets in the name of the king of Naples, it passed under British control. This situation lasted until 1964, when it became an independent monarchy within the Commonwealth (like Canada).
Labour PM Dom Mintoff broke with the British Crown in 1974 and proclaimed the republic. He also initiated a foreign policy oriented towards neutrality. This status, which oscillated between the Arab and Western worlds according to the inclinations of the different governments in power after Don Mintoff's, received a powerful recognition in 1989, when the summit between Reagan and Gorbachov was held there. The following year its government applied, with Italy's support, to join the European Union.
That marked the beginning of a "Malta Issue". In 1996, the elections were won by the Labour Party led by Alfred Sant, who had campaigned under the slogan "No to Malta in the EU". Sant was giving voice to that part of public opinion that instead of applying for entry preferred to pursue special agreements that would allow Malta to keep some advantages without accepting the sacrifices required to be accepted in the Union. This issue was short-lived: in 1998 the Nationalist Party of Edward Fenech Adami, a staunch Europeist, returned to power, immediately steering back to the old course. On May 1, 2004, Malta became the 25th Member State of the European Union.


For travelers

In Ljubljana (Slovenia) are certainly worth a visit the Municipal Museum, with its collections of the Roman Age, and the National Museum, which includes sections on prehistoric times, natural history, and ethnography. On Sunday morning, one should not miss the flea market in Radnik, a few kilometres from the downtown. Halfway between culture and shopping, the Centromerkur is a beautiful Art Deco building that currently accommodates a city mall. Live jazz music can be found at Geonautik's, a downtown café decorated with ancient nautical charts. Live music is also offered at Casablanca's, another important café.

In Nicosia (Cyprus), all over the island, tourists are offered a variety of choices, e.g. a stroll along the five kilometres or so of Venetian walls, enclosing the medieval part of the city and accommodating the Archaeological Museum. There is also the Byzantine Museum, with its collection of icons; St. John's Cathedral; the Omeriye Mosque, 16th-century conversion of a previous Augustinian monastery; and the ancient baths built in the late 1500s. The Cyprus Handicraft Centre is well worth a visit. During the Orthodox Easter festivities in Larnaka, a feast is dedicated to Lazarus' resurrection, and baskets are made and filled with flowers and olive branches destined to decorate churches and clothes.

In La Valletta (Malta), the National Archaeological Museum, in a building formerly belonging to the Knights, deserves a visit: prehistoric ceramics, sculptures and ornaments from megalithic temples on the island, and Carthaginian and Roman specimens. In the oratory of St. John's Cathedral there are two famous paintings by Caravaggio: Beheading of St. John the Baptist and Saint Jerome. Republic Street is the commercial artery of La Valletta. Jewels in gold and silver filigree and local crafts can be found in Santa Lucia Street, while Maltese ceramics can be found in Merchants Street. A visit to the fishermen's village of Marsaxlokk is a must.

Publication Date: 2004-05-16
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3976