Un presidente nella bufera. Cossiga, Andreotti e la minacciata crisi istituzionale all’ombra di «Gladio»

The discovery of the secret organization «Gladio» in the summer of 1990 led to a harsh controversy on the part of the Communist Party and other opposition forces, in which, for their previous government positions, the President of the Republic Francesco Cossiga and the head of the government Giulio Andreotti were involved. The controversy concerned the legitimacy of «Gladio», accused of having pursued, in the years of the cold war, the aim of preventing the advent of the opposition forces to the government, through the terrorism and the meddling in the democratic game. As the highest representative of the constitutional democratic system born after the Second World War, Cossiga rejected all accusations and claimed, openly and polemically, the legitimacy of the creation of «Gladio», as a part of the «Stay-Behind» nets organized within NATO in many European countries to face an invasion by the Warsaw Pact. Faced with criticism on «Gladio»’s aims also by the majority forces and by the consequent hesitation of the government on the point of the legitimacy of the secret organization, in December 1990 Cossiga threatened an institutional crisis, which in turn led Andreotti to threaten his resignation if the government had not clearly and publicly confirmed its position on «Gladio»’s legitimacy.