Over one hundred swim for Europe in Ventotene

28 June 2025 | Ventotene

Once a year, our partners Europa Now (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) organise a swim for Europe (the ‘Natalonga (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’) between the islands of Santo Stefano and Ventotene.

This year’s event which took place on 28 June was a great success with over 100 swimmers taking part in the crossing from the political prison island of Santo Stefano (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)to the island of Ventotene - a distance of 1,700 metres.

Ventotene (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)was used as an internment camp for political detainees during the Mussolini regime. The island gave its name to the Ventotene Manifesto, the first blueprint for a federal Europe.

The Ventotene Manifesto (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) was drafted by Altiero Spinelli, (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) Ernesto Rossi (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Eugenio Colorni (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), and smuggled out of Ventotene by Ursula Hirschmann (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

After the war, the Ventotene Manifesto became highly influential, particularly following the election of Spinelli to the European parliament. The Spinelli group is still the largest group of MEPs in the European Parliament today.

At at time when the idea of a free and democratic Europe is again threatened by right wing populism, xenophobia, disinformation and violent conflict. the Ventotene Manifesto stands as a constant reminder that the road to nationalism is the road to war.

This year’s Natalonga was preceded by a meeting on the main square in Ventotene. Tatiana Bucci, (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) one of the last survivors of Auschwitz was the speaker and said this about the importance of Natalonga:

"I have always felt European. I am a child of Europe that has left behind the horrors of the 20th century. When I saw so many people of all ages diving into the sea in the name of an ideal to be defended today more than ever, I got so excited!"

If you would like to know more about the work of New European People’s Forum (NEPF) and our partner organisations such as Europa Now, please consider supporting our work by joining as friend.

New European People's Forum is an initiative focused on defending democracy and human rights in Europe. We work to promote these values across the continent. Our forum serves as a platform for discussion, collaboration, and advocacy related to these fundamental principles. We have recently launched the programme Westminster Alliance for Ukraine, together with its partner organisations Media Dialogue (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)in Ludwigshafen and Civil (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in Skopje.