European politicians honor Italian rights campaigner Emma Bonino

Emma Bonino, a longtime champion of civil and women's rights in Italy, has died, prompting tributes from political leaders across Europe. Bonino played a central role in the 1970s campaigns that led to the legalization of divorce and abortion in her home country.

In 2017, she co-founded the liberal More Europe party, which honored her memory on Friday. Party leader Riccardo Magi described her on social media as an activist, parliamentarian, minister and European commissioner who remained radically free throughout her life, calling her existence a continuous struggle against anything that denied freedom.

Carlo Calenda, leader of the liberal Action party, also paid respects, calling Bonino the last great protagonist of the civil rights battles that helped modernize the country. He said her passing marked the loss of a piece of both Italian and European political history.

Bonino's work reached well beyond Italy's borders. During the 1990s, she served as a European commissioner, a role in which she oversaw a significant expansion of humanitarian aid to regions devastated by some of the decade's worst conflicts, including the Balkans, Rwanda and Afghanistan.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola noted that Bonino never waited for the world to be ready for change, instead consistently moving forward and showing others the way. Metsola said the Europe Bonino fought for would feel her absence.