On Wednesday 23rd December in Djakovica, the show ‘Benvenuti in Teatro’ The evening was also attended by the Undersecretary of State for Defence, Hon. Guido Crosetto, and the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, Air Squad General Daniele Tei. Doing the honours was Colonel Fabio Terpin, Commander of the ‘Air Airport Amiko’ Task Force in Djakovica; also present was Brigadier General Roberto D'Alessandro, Commander of the Multinational Task Force West, the Italian area of responsibility within the KFOR mission in the Balkans.
‘I felt like doing something – said Ciufoli – to lift the spirits of our lads engaged in missions abroad, who this Christmas will be far away from Italy and above all from their dearest loved ones. A ‘mission of fun’ – as the comedian himself jokingly defined it – for a mission of peace. And so, on our part, we did the only thing we do best: give the gift of a smile.
An improvised show, without a run-down and with minimal stage design, but with a single, important purpose: to symbolically bring the country's wishes and thanks to all Italian military personnel currently engaged in missions abroad. Among the artists present were actors Kaspar Capparoni (star of the fiction series ‘Commissario Rex’ and ‘Capri’), Francesco Venditti and Perla Pendenza, Matteo Beccucci, winner of the previous edition of X Factor, comedian Fabrizio Sabatucci, and Italian-Albanian violinist Olen Cesari, who opened the show with the notes of ‘Jingle Bells’.
‘The presence of these artists bears witness to the ongoing evolution in Italy in the attitude towards the armed forces and missions abroad,” stated Under-Secretary Crosetto. “A way to be close to these lads and make them understand that we do not forget them, and above all to convey the affection of the State. Today’s initiative – added Crosetto – is a new one that we hope can be repeated in all other operational theatres, starting with Afghanistan, where Minister La Russa had first intended to organise a similar initiative, but which we preferred to postpone for security reasons.”.
On Wednesday morning, Defence Minister La Russa himself, while departing from Ciampino airport for Livorno and crossing paths with the delegation of authorities and artists leaving for Đakovica aboard a C-130J from the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, took the opportunity to send distant greetings to all Italian military personnel deployed abroad: “Thanks to all the Italian lads and lasses engaged abroad. Rather than just wishes, we ought to give them the gift of our total affection, great friendship, closeness and solidarity, for what they do, not only when they respond to emergencies in Italy, but also when they are called upon to operate far from national borders.” General Tei was keen to reiterate the importance of the presence of the Italian Armed Forces in Kosovo, “a contribution that has been continuously assured since the very beginning of operations”. In September 1999, less than two months after the start of reconstruction work on the airport by Italian Air Force personnel, a G-222 from the 46th Air Brigade landed on the runway at Đakovica. Since December 2000, following the completion of work to lengthen and recondition the runway, regular connections from Italy have also begun for civilian aircraft. The airport has been used by all forces in the Theatre participating in Operation ‘Joint Guardian’, later renamed ‘Joint Enterprise’. Since 2000, components of the Italian Army have also been deployed at the airport, namely the ‘Ercole’ and ‘Aquila’ Task Forces, together with an E.O.D. cell from the ‘Falco’ TF.
At the end of the show, the authorities present wished to thank the sponsor of the event – the clothing company ‘Cristiano di Thiene’ – which contributed to the organisation of the event.
Multimedia Contributions Video: Festa Italiana – Rai Uno on Thursday 7th January at 15:00 Video: TG1 of Thursday 24 December at 13:30 Video: TG2 on Thursday 24th December at 13:00 Video: TG5 of Thursday 24th December at 13:00 Video: Adnkronos for Thursday 24 December Audio: Rai Radiocity for Wednesday 23rd December
