ROME: Thousands of demonstrators marched peacefully Saturday in the northern Italian city of Vicenza in the latest protest against a planned expansion of a U.S. military base there.

A protest in February drew tens of thousands of marchers but Saturday's march drew far fewer participants. Many of the marchers came from other Italian cities.

Premier Romano Prodi's center-left government has approved the expansion, going ahead with the project despite angry objections from far-left coalition allies, Greens and Communists.

The Ederle base has about 2,900 active duty military personnel. The expansion at the Dal Molin airport, on the other side of town, would allow the U.S. military to move four battalions now based in Germany, raising the number to 5,000.

The move is part of the U.S. Army's plans to transform itself into a lighter, more mobile force. Under the plans, elements of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade, a rapid reaction unit now spread between Italy and Germany, would be united.


Source (american): International Herald Tribune 15.12.2007

for more information about the previous February´s protest see The New York Times »

For information about the italian protest movement No (al) Dal Molin please visit their homepage 


          

     Foto from italian daily Corriere della Sera (see a video from the march)
     Approximately 100 000 people from the whole Europe as well as from
     the United States took part at the demonstration, inluding the Nobel
     price of literature laureat Dario Fo.

     Next to the "No dal Molin" flag there is our flag of "Ne základnám" 
     (No to Bases) movement that also sent a delagation to Vicenza.