Craxi-Andreotti and the Italian Ostpolitik

Abstract

The intense period of Craxi’s government (1983-1987) was characterised by a new, even unique activity of Italy on the international scene. In that very period, the country tried to assume a role guaranteeing the “international concert”, significantly weakened earlier by the mechanisms of the Cold War. The goal of this new policy of détente was - both for Bettino Craxi and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giulio Andreotti - a greater engagement of Italy in the relations with the countries from behind the Iron Curtain. This is the origin of the Italian Ostpolitik, which - seen in this text both as a whole and as a collection of its particular stages of growth - finds a lasting and unique understanding of its basic qualifications in the easing of bilateral relations with Jaruzelski’s Poland and their further development.