MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova - Venetian people have a right to vote in a referendum for Veneto independence as people in Crimea did, Nicola Gardin, one of the founders of Indipendenza Veneta political movement told RIA Novosti Thursday.
"Italy wants to give us autonomy, but it's not a real solution. We want a referendum where Venetian people can vote for independence. So we fight for the Special Comission of Regional Council to say yes to a referendum on independence," Gardin said. "People should be re-asked if they want to stay in the Italian state or become a Venetian republic," he added.
On Wednesday Italian police arrested 24 men including a former lawmaker on suspicion of planning an armed split of the northern region of Veneto from the rest of the country. Police officials say the detainees fixed up a bulldozer with a makeshift cannon planning to use it to assault St.Mark's Square in Venice. This scheme resembles the 1997 seizure of the square's bell tower by armed activists who rallied for a creation of an independent Venetian republic.
The activist claimed the inde-pendence movement is inspired by the idea of returning to an independent republic that Venice was for over 1100 years before Napoleon deposed its last leader in 1797.
"Economically, if Venice leaves the Italian state, the crisis is over for us. Venetian region gives almost 70 billion euros ($96 billion) in taxes to the Italian state, and we receive 49 billion euros ($67 billion) back in services like healthcare. So we give more than we receive," Gardin said.
Like other major regions of the country - Milan and Lombardy - Veneto is strangled by the Italian fiscal pressure, which is well above 60 percent.
Local independence activists and parties launched an online vote to secede from Italy and declare an independent Republic of Veneto last month. 89 percent of the online poll's respondents voted for Veneto to break away from Italy. The vote was not recognized by the Italian authorities, but activists believe it would help them legitimize calls for an official vote.
Some international experts believe that Veneto's sovereignty bid is inspired by Crimea, where over 96 percent of voters supported reunification with Russia at a historic referendum last month, which Russian President Vladimir Putin said was in full compliance with the UN charter and international law. Scotland in Britain and Catalonia in Spain are planning to hold full-fledged independence referendums this autumn.
