In the elections of 1968, Christian Democrats kept their position, unified Socialists went through a crisis, Communists increased their votes. All this made Moro’s line of action hard to follow: he was soon put on the margin, and for about one year he had no role in the party. On January 1969 he adopted a critical position, bound for the party renewal, within DC.
Moro was minister of Foreign affairs from August 1969 to July 1972 (Presidents of the Council being Mariano Rumor, Emilio Colombo, Giulio Andreotti). His foreign policy tried to be in agreement with the contemporary needs for freedom both at national and international level. He saw the world as a bipolar system where steady alliances could be an element of peace and progress if balanced by the development of bilateral relations, where also a middle power like Italy could play a major role. In this regard, we must consider as integral part of Moro’s foreign policy actions like UNO exploitation, the reinforcement of Europe as the fourth pole of world’s politics, the support to German Chancellor Willi Brandt’s Ostpolitik towards the Eastern bloc, the consideration given to the developing countries of Africa and Asia (recognition of People’s Republic of China), the special care for relevant regional issues such as the Mediterranean (in particular the Arab-Israeli conflict) and Jugoslavia (the still open border issues), Italy’s strong growth of wide range diplomatic action.
Aldo Moro nel mondo. Naviga la mappa interattiva All’Assemblea Generale delle Nazioni Unite, New York, 22 giugno 1967 Incontro ufficiale con Hailé Selassié, imperatore di Etiopia, 1970
