Italian politician Emma Bonino dies at 78, a powerful voice in support of Kosovo

Emma Bonino, the Italian politician and activist who supported Kosovo for years during and after the war, has died at the age of 78.

Her party, “More Europe,” announced on Friday that Italy had lost “not only our leader, but also one of the most far-sighted, courageous and free-spirited figures in the political history of our country.”

Bonino was among the voices supporting NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999. During that period, she visited Kosovar refugees in neighboring countries and, on May 9 of that year, stayed in Skopje in her capacity as the European Union commissioner for humanitarian aid.

From Skopje, she drew attention to the scale of the crisis in Kosovo, declaring: “There are at least 690,000 displaced people, which means that a human bomb has been filled and could explode at any moment.” Bonino also denounced the fact that the Yugoslav authorities at the time had prevented Kosovars from entering Macedonia for four days.

Even after the war ended, the former European commissioner continued to support Kosovo. In 2013, she visited the country and, during a press conference, pledged to support the process of visa liberalization.

On the international stage, Bonino will also be remembered as the Italian radical politician who led campaigns to legalize abortion and divorce in the face of opposition from the Vatican.

“More Europe” described her political journey as “a struggle against everything that denied freedom: against clandestine abortions, hunger, the choice of party politics, female genital mutilation, punitive justice, genocide and every form of authoritarianism.”