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Considered the man of the moment in Italy, General Roberto Vannacci, one of Italy's most renowned military figures, has given an extensive interview to STIRIPESURSE.RO! General Roberto Vannacci, a distinguished military leader in Italy's history, has authored a book that has not only become a bestseller but has also sparked controversy at the European and even NATO levels.
Roberto Vannacci's book, released on August 10th, is titled "Il mondo al contrario" translated as "The World Upside Down," and has become the best-selling book of the year in Italy within just two weeks of its release.
Married to a Romanian, General Roberto Vannacci granted an interview to STIRIPESURSE.RO in which he discussed the hottest topics. According to information available to the editorial team, Vannacci's book has become a subject of intense discussion among military attaches at the embassies of NATO countries in Romania and among military personnel in the Ministry of National Defense. This is because many are familiar with the Italian general and resonate with what he has published in "The World Upside Down."
Vannacci says he cannot be homophobic, racist, or xenophobic, given the soldiers he has led in theaters of operation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ivory Coast, Libya, Rwanda, and Somalia.
At 54 years old, Army General Roberto Vannacci has had an exemplary career: a paratrooper in special forces, former commander of Task Force 45 during the war in Afghanistan, former commander of the Folgore paratrooper brigade, former commander of Col Moschin (a special unit that carries out strategic incursions in highly dangerous areas), and former commander of the Italian contingent in Iraq. Vannacci is considered a brave "soldier in the service of the state."
In 2020, the general was sent as a defense attaché to the Italian Embassy in Moscow, with missions in Belarus, Armenia, and Turkmenistan. He left his post in 2022 because he was declared "persona non grata" by Russian authorities following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
His brilliant ascent, adorned with national and international honors, propelled him to the helm of the Military Geographic Institute, the historic cartographic body of Florence (IGM), in June 2023. However, he was dismissed on August 18th, just eight days after the release of his book.
Reporter: General, you speak Romanian impeccably. If I may use an expression used by some Romanian journalists, even better than many politicians in Bucharest. How did you achieve this level?
General Roberto Vannacci: I lived in Bucharest for 2 years. I am a graduate of the Military Studies Academy in Bucharest. I attended the Academy between 2000 and 2002. Ten years later, I married a Romanian woman I met there, in Bucharest, while I was attending the Academy. That's how I became proficient in Romanian because we speak both Italian and Romanian at home.
Reporter: You have been accused by a segment of Italian society, including some of your superiors, of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, etc. This is despite the fact that you have served in various theaters of operation, and, jokingly put, you are a minority in Italy because you are a general. Not all Italians are generals. Moreover, you are married to a woman who belongs to a minority, a Romanian.
General Roberto Vannacci: Initially, I was accused of being homophobic, racist, xenophobic, and so on. But now I have managed to demonstrate that these accusations were mere words. In my entire experience, all the individuals I have led in theaters of operation have been men and women of various sexual orientations, and they have never complained about how I behaved. So, everyone who accused me is now silent because all the allegations have been debunked.
Initially, they started with a very high tone, but now the tone has decreased, and the truth is being established. I am very pleased because I had the opportunity to explain to the citizens of Italy why I wrote the book, and if people were to read the book, they would realize that there is nothing racist, homophobic, or against human dignity in it. The book aims to highlight the fact that there are many minorities trying to prioritize their needs over the majority in society. This is a paradox.
Reporter: Is it a dictatorship of minorities?
General Roberto Vannacci: Yes! I have nothing against homosexuals, people from Africa, or other ethnicities, but we must consider the connection with the majority, which represents the civilization they are guests in, such as Italy. Why shouldn't they conform to Italian culture and civilization, and why should we conform to their culture? This is a phenomenon of the last 10 years, and to me, it's just absurd. I wrote the book for this reason.
I have not offended anyone. If people who read the book, because initially, I was accused of offending people, including homosexuals, Africans, and others, read it, they would see that it's not true at all. I did not use any vulgar language or insults in the book I wrote. People who have started to read the book have realized this. Now, the book is the best-selling book in Italy since the beginning of the year.
Reporter: How do you view the controversy surrounding the book?
General Roberto Vannacci: We'll see how it plays out because I've had 7 days of "battle." I have given interviews every day, for 4-5-6 hours each, to journalists from the most important publications and television channels. I believe the truth has been largely restored, around 90%. We'll see how it ends, but I believe it will end well. I have never retracted what I wrote or what I did. I was sure that there was nothing to retract.
Reporter: It's said that in tough times, you find out who your friends are. How has it been for you?
General Roberto Vannacci: That's exactly what happened. In difficult times, you discover who your friends are and who are not. That's what happened here.
I had people I thought were close to me, but they distanced themselves, and I had many others whom I knew were with me, and they remained by my side. This is natural selection; it always happens. So, these tough periods are important for discovering who is truly your friend and who stands by you for opportunities.
Reporter: You are, beyond everything, a courageous person, otherwise, you wouldn't be a military man. However, what you have published is quite rare, not only for an exceptional military figure but also for a civilian.
General Roberto Vannacci: It's a different kind of courage than the courage on the battlefield. I expected there to be many debates, but I didn't expect such a big scandal. The important thing is to be honest. If you are honest with what you think, if you are sure that you have done something that needed to be done, or you think it needed to be done, it's important to remain honest. That's what I've learned once again from this experience.
Reporter: Do you have any regrets?
General Roberto Vannacci: I have nothing to regret from my book. Even if more than half of Italy condemned me at the beginning, I wasn't concerned. That's because I was sure that what I wrote in the book and what I expressed was neither an offense nor anything bad. It's just something that people are no longer accustomed to saying. In the end, people understood, and I am very happy about that.
Reporter: Who are your detractors, and how much of the population do they represent?
General Roberto Vannacci: They are an ultra-minority. We must establish that normality is a statistical matter, just statistical. It's not a matter of better or worse normality. It's simply what the majority of people do, and that's what we must always defend.
Reporter: What do you think they aim to achieve?
General Roberto Vannacci: What's the strategy? To destroy normality so that nothing is considered normal, and everything is considered normal. Well, we cannot accept that. We must absolutely defend ourselves against these things, define them, and be very determined to defend the normality, which is neither better nor worse. It exists! It exists and has a statistical tone, it's exactly what the majority of people do, and we must not be afraid to say this clearly. I have nothing against minorities; I have nothing against those with a different orientation than mine, but we must reestablish the majority and the minority, it must be clear. I don't want to wake up in a few years and have someone tell me on the street, "I'm offended that you're holding hands with your wife."
Reporter: Do you feel that a lot of people who think the same way as you could gather around you, not only in Italy but elsewhere?
General Roberto Vannacci: We hope so, we hope so! It has happened in Italy. I have received many emails and calls from people I don't know, telling me that they support me, and I hope it happens everywhere. It's not a movement of courage; it's a movement of normality, a movement that probably needs to happen sooner or later. What I said is banal, I didn't conduct any scientific research, nothing extraordinary. I just said something banal that people no longer dared to say.
We need to return to what is banal, normal, and say it. We must fight for what we have considered normal until now. It's very simple, but it needs courage. We hope that this stone thrown into the water will create significant and powerful waves and be something meaningful in other countries as well. I know that articles about the book have been written in almost all countries, regardless of the continent. Every day, I have about 7-8 interviews on television, radio, and websites.
Reporter: We come from Christian Europe; do we still live in a Christian Europe?
General Roberto Vannacci: We have a clear identity. We cannot and should not abandon our identity; I don't see why we should. Why should we give up our identity? It's the identity we inherited from our ancestors, and I don't see why we should abandon it. It's something I cannot define, and it cannot be accepted. We need to have some courage and establish the right balance. I have nothing against immigrants; I have nothing against different cultures. But when they come to us, they must adapt to our values, just as I adapted to the values of others when I traveled the world. It's normal; those who do not adapt to the culture they are "guests" in are considered invaders.
