Bologna marks 46 years since station bombing that killed 85, Mattarella condemns neofascist strategy
Italy marks 46 years since the Bologna station bombing that killed 85 people, with President Mattarella denouncing the neofascist strategy behind the attack and the government sending only an undersecretary to the commemoration.
The commemoration and the march
Bologna paused at 10:25 on 2 August 2026, exactly 46 years after a bomb exploded in the city's railway station, killing 85 people. Mayor Matteo Lepore led a march through the city centre, starting from the courtyard of Palazzo d'Accursio and moving along Via Indipendenza. He was joined by Undersecretary of the Interior Nicola Molteni, Emilia-Romagna President Michele de Pascale, and other authorities. A long applause greeted Lepore at the start of the procession, with many citizens offering words of encouragement after the mayor had received threats in recent days following protests over the death of Aderrahim Fakir, a 42-year-old who died during a police stop in the Pilastro district.
Il 2 agosto 1980 abbiamo perso 85 persone, è il giorno più importante della storia della nostra città. È una giornata di morte ma anche nella quale la speranza è iniziata, da quel giorno Bologna ha raccolto macerie, ha soccorso le vittime.
Lepore stressed that violence has no political colour and that indifference generates monsters. He called on Italians to get back on the path of civic engagement, declaring that Bologna would remain a pillar of Italian and European civil conscience.
Mattarella's message: justice as victory for democracy
President Sergio Mattarella issued a written message describing the deep mark left by the massacre on the republican history and the conscience of Italians. He spoke of the infinite pain for the defenceless victims (women, men, children), the anguish of the families, and the shock of destruction at the heart of civil life. Mattarella framed the attack as part of a neofascist strategy of terror that sought to destroy the values of freedom, justice, and democracy.
La Repubblica è grata ai magistrati e agli uomini delle istituzioni che, con il loro lavoro, si sono dimostrati più forti dei tentativi di depistaggio e ai familiari delle vittime per il loro appassionato impegno per la verità. Fare giustizia è vittoria della democrazia.
He added that the awareness of what happened must be passed on to young people and that the commitment to safeguard the future must be renewed.
Government representation and political tensions
The government sent only Undersecretary Molteni, with no minister present. This low-profile choice came after last year's tensions when Minister Anna Maria Bernini attended and the right-wing government showed chronic embarrassment in pronouncing the word "fascist." Molteni, a member of the League, acknowledged the neofascist matrix of the attack, calling it a wound that belongs to the entire nation.
Alle 10.25 del 2 agosto 1980 un attentato terroristico di matrice neofascista ha squarciato la vita di tante persone, di una città, di una nazione intera.
Senate President Ignazio La Russa posted on Facebook, renewing homage to the victims and their families. He stated that judicial truth has definitively attributed responsibility to a "fascist matrix" and that the search for complete truth must continue. Paolo Lambertini, president of the Association of Family Members of Victims, addressed the political power directly from the stage at the station. He said the association expects Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to have the courage to break with the past and utter the word "fascist," noting that it is not their opinion but the finding of 17 court rulings.
The judicial legacy and calls for full truth
The neofascist nature of the Bologna bombing is established by 17 court sentences that traced the chain of command from NAR executors to the instigators, revealing complicity and cover-ups by deviant state apparatuses. Lambertini expressed strong disappointment with the recent work of the Antimafia Commission, denouncing the risk of abandoning investigations into still-obscure historical leads, such as the role of Stefano Delle Chiaie. He also pointed to recurring revisionist attempts that try to normalise figures from that period. Lepore thanked magistrates and lawyers, saying that without them the definitive sentences would not have been reached, and he invited the crowd to applaud the law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.
