In Italy, to keep Tibet on the agenda of the European Union

June 20, 2014
Matteo Mecacci
2 Comments
ICT stand

The ICT stand inside the Modigliani Forum in Livorno during His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings.



Benedetto Della Vedova, Matteo Mecacci, Vincent Metten

Undersecretary of State Benedetto Della Vedova, Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet and EU Policy Director Vincent Metten.
Last week, I had a week-long visit to Italy with the aim to keep Tibet on the agenda of Italian and EU institutions for the coming months. The occasion was given by the fact that Italy will chair the European Union for six months starting on July 1 and also by the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Italy. He was there for a series of teachings and a public talk, in Pomaia at the Lama Thsong Khapa Institute and in Livorno, from the 13 to the 15 of June.

In the days preceding the teachings, I was joined by Vincent Metten, EU policy Director of ICT, to participate in several meetings in Rome, both with Government representatives and Members of Parliament. Also, in those same days, the new Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, was in China for his first visit to Beijing since he assumed power. On these issues, I published an article in an Italian newspaper (English translation), and I also held a hearing before the human rights committee of the Chamber of Deputies.

This was an important occasion to renew and reinforce the call of ICT and of its supporters worldwide to EU and democratic countries to adopt a common and principled position on the issue of Tibet while dealing with China.

Finally, in Pomaia and Livorno I had the opportunity and the privilege to spend few days with thousands of people who had gathered from all over the world to welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to participate in his teachings. Elena Gaita and Joel Hirv from the ICT Brussels office joined me to distribute thousands of reports, flyers, t-shirts and other gadgets to participants.

I was there for the entire duration of the teachings and I was privileged to be part of a joyous atmosphere. Finally, I also had a non-programmed chance to speak with His Holiness the Dalai Lama about our work at ICT and his kindness was once again remarkable.

Grazie!

Matteo
Matteo

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Matteo Mecacci

Matteo Mecacci, is President of the International Campaign for Tibet. Born in Firenze (Florence) Italy, Matteo Mecacci, studied International law at the University of Firenze. He represented the Transnational Radical Party and No Peace without Justice at the UN in New York from 2001 to 2008 and later served as a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies as well as an elected official of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly. In that capacity he participated in over 20 election observation missions, including as OSCE Special Coordinator in Serbia and Belarus in 2012.
  
He was appointed head of mission of the OSCE/ODHIR election observation mission in Georgia in 2013. He served as Chairperson of the Italian Parliamentary Intergroup for Tibet, and in 2009, he organized the 5th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet in Rome. He was Co-chair of the International Network of Parliamentarians on Tibet (INPaT) and played an active role in promoting Tibetan democracy in exile, and was a Co-Chair of the Tibetan Election Observation Mission in 2011.

2 CommentsLeave a comment

  • I have to tell something directly to Mr Mecacci, and prefer to write in italian because I’m not so strong in english.
    Buongiorno, sono un supporter della ICT, e devo segnalare una cosa. C’è un tal professore, di nome Fabio Massimo Parenti, che sta facendo una sfacciata campagna mediatica in cui distorce la verità riguardo alla situazione in Tibet. Scrive articoli su siti web compiacenti e appare (con una bella cravatta rossa) in tv private, e ad esempio parla di cose come la libertà del Tibet, la tutela del buddhismo e della cultura locale attuata dai cinesi, il Tibet già liberato “pacificamente” proprio dalla Repubblica popolare, l’ignoranza dei free-Tibet, la manipolazione mediatica anticinese pilotata dagli americani, le prove della storica appartenenza del Tibet alla Cina (che lui stesso va lì a cercare), ecc. . Questa persona sta facendo una mascalzonata, e lavora contro la nostra causa, anche molto attivamente, Lei non potrebbe fare nulla per contrastarlo?
    Può trovare un suo articolo qui: http://www.opinione-pubblica.com/ritorno-dal-tibet-regione-autonoma-cinese-alcune-osservazioni/
    Può vedere un suo intervento in tv qui: https://youtu.be/5PZujQ59GD8