Yes of 'Captain' Rackete to Ukraine's use of western weapons on Russian territory

The message of the European Parliament, expressed in the plenary vote in Strasbourg on Thursday 19 September, is addressed to the governments of the 27 member states. And it is as follows: the restrictions on the use of arms supplied to Ukraine must be lifted, so as to enable Kiev to achieve its 'legitimate military objectives' on Russian territory.

A section of The Left, including Carola Rackete, voted in favour of paragraph 8 of the resolution which, precisely, calls on member states to immediately lift restrictions on the use of Western weapons delivered to Ukraine against legitimate military targets on Russian territory. The choice of the 'Capitana' did not go unnoticed.

On this passage, the divisions of the extreme left component sitting on the Strasbourg assembly benches emerged. The Italian left of Ilaria Salis and Mimmo Lucano, the 5-Star Movement and the French left of Mélenchon spoke out against paragraph 8. In favour, in addition to The Left, were Sweden's Jonas Sjöstedt Hannah Gedin, Denmark's Per Clausen and Finland's Jussi Saramo, Merja Kyllönen and Li Andersson.

Rackete is the Sea Watch 3 captain who, on 26 June 2019, after rescuing 53 migrants in the Libyan Sar zone on 12 June, forced the blockade on Lampedusa imposed by League leader Matteo Salvini when he was Interior Minister. On that occasion Rackete rammed a patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza. That action cost her several days of house arrest and the seizure of the ship for six months. But it also thrust her into the international limelight, fuelling the clash between the reasons for unconditional reception and the selective policy of closed ports, inaugurated by Italy but in fact also carried out by other southern European countries. In the European elections in June, the activist was among the 3 elected in Germany of the Linke. The Linke almost halved its votes compared to 2019, from 5.5% to 2.7%.