THE Neutral countries are those states that choose to do not participate in armed conflictsneither directly nor indirectly, avoiding to provide military or logistical support to one of the parties in war and protecting their territory from external intrusions. During European history, many attempted this path, but with poor results: Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway were invaded during the world wars, while Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Sweden had to negotiate compromises to maintain a semblance of sovereignty. Today the Swiss The best known model of neutrality remains, even if respect for western sanctions towards Russia has questioned the absoluteness of this position. THE’ItalyInstead, cannot aspire to such a neutrality: its strategic position in Mediterranean And the interest of the great powers for its territory make it impossible for a policy of isolation or total non -alignment, making neutrality an impossible option in practice.
The concept of neutrality and its history
Even if in the nineteenth century it was discussed if i Small countries could avoid conflicts among the great European powers, still today there is no unique and recognized definition of neutrality. However, most of the international community follow the definition of the Convention of the AIA of 1907namely that:
“Neutral states cannot participate in wars neither directly nor indirectly. They cannot support or militarily favor the parties in conflict, nor make their territories accessible to them, supply them with armaments or finance credits, or restrict the export of armaments on a private basis in the direction of a single part in question. The neutral states also have the obligation to defend themselves militarily against any violations of their neutrality “.
Therefore the concept of neutrality, in order to make sense, must necessarily be traced back to European political and military history, because it provides for a not military alignmentthat is, the choice of a country of not to adhere to any military alliance. This concept found a certain popularity between the European states at the beginning of 20th centurybut the events of the Before and the Second World War They contributed to putting it in crisis, although they never make him disappear completely. During those two conflicts, in fact, some countries that had declared themselves previously “neutral” (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Albania, Greece) were attacked by one or larger powers participating in the conflict, while others (Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) They had to accept the time from time to time painful compromises who, in one way or another, have undermined it full sovereignty.
What are the neutral countries today
After the Second World Wari Neutral countries in Europe and in the world they decreased, and the concept of neutrality it turned into the more flexible one not alignment. This idea was proposed for the first time by Yugoslavia Of Josip Broz Tito After the breaking of 1948 with theUrss. In Europe it remained limited to Yugoslavia, but obtained a great following among the countries of Third world during the Decolonizationgiving rise to Movement of non -aligned countries.
Nowadays, theonly country which continues to reflect in collective feeling the classic ideal of neutrality in Europe and in the whole world is the Swisswhich continues to refuse adherence to any military alliance. However, after the beginning of theinvasion of Ukraine by Russia (February 24, 2022), also the Swiss Confederation has aligned with the regime of penalties that theWest approved against Moscow. Even if this type of support has not resulted in the military field, it is legitimate to wonder if, opening up openly with the western chancelleries, Bern does not have de facto inhabitants of the principle of neutrality that for over two centuries animates the spirit of its international relations.
Can Italy be a neutral country?
Since Italy became a modern national state, it has never happened that any government has taken the opportunity to declare the neutrality of our peninsula. The problem in this case lies so much in collective feeling as in an objective observation of the geopolitical location of Italy. As has been observed several times in different contexts, so that a country can truly pursue a neutrality policy is not enough that it “declares itself neutral” but it is at the same time necessary that the other great actors of international politics reach the tacit agreement to “allow him to be neutral” and therefore substantially to “leave him in peace and not attack his security and independence”.
The manual case in this sense is that of Kingdom of Belgiumwhich became an independent and internationally recognized state April 19, 1839after nine years of low intensity war with i Netherlandswith the London Treaty. Based on the clauses of that treaty, the great European powers of the period (Austria, France, Prussia, Russia and the United Kingdom) they made themselves collectively guarantee Not only of Belgium’s independence from the Netherlands but also of its neutrality in the field of international relations and territorial integrity towards any external aggression. This balance, which seemed ideal on paper, collapsed in 20th centurywhen the Germany He vulgated twice in twenty -five years theindependence and neutrality of Belgium. The reason was clear: the position of Belgium, real strategic corridor To attack the Franceit was too precious to be ignored.
Likewise, given the strategic position that the Italian peninsula has always occupied in the center of the Mediterranean, it is easy to understand why in the course of the millennia it always has (with the only exception of the interlude represented by the period of maximum splendor of the Roman Empire) stimulated the expansionist appetites of external forces with the most disparate origins. In today’s world, characterized by a new top race to redesign the international balances It is easy to understand that no great power among those that are now competing for the primacy will ever want to allow Italy to be a free and neutral country.
