Italy Coalition Partners Clash on Who Gets to Become a Citizen

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition parties are openly clashing over who has the right to become an Italian citizen, interrupting the country’s traditional midsummer lull.

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Matteo Salvini’s right-wing League this week attacked Forza Italia, a more centrist coalition party founded by the late Silvio Berlusconi, for supporting an opposition-sponsored measure to allow naturalization for non-citizens who’ve completed most of their education in the country.

In a Facebook post which showed leaders of Forza Italia and the opposition Democrats side by side, the League said the current law “works very well as it is” and doesn’t need to be amended.

Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani, who’s also Foreign Minister, told daily Il Messaggero Thursday that his party has always backed citizenship through schooling, calling it “neither a shortcut nor a left-wing measure,” though he noted the issue is not currently on the government’s agenda and ruled out any coalitions with the center-left Democrats.

The exchange of salvos throws into sharp relief how distant the two coalition partners sometimes are on a range of issues, including migrants and their integration. Though Meloni’s government has only been in power since late 2022, it’s already come under strain over issues from support to Ukraine, to civil and LGBT rights.

With few exceptions, notably for world-class athletes, Italy has some of Europe’s most restrictive laws on citizenship. Unlike in the US, where anyone born in the country is recognized as a citizen, non-citizens born in Italy can only apply for naturalization after their 18th birthday.

On the other hand, family descent can provide a shortcut for those with distant Italian ancestors — even if they’ve never lived in Italy or can’t speak the language.

Still, according to government figures, more than 210,000 individuals of migrant background became citizens in 2022, the largest number in the European Union.

The debate over citizenship came to the fore during the Paris Olympics, with a number of Italian athletes of foreign descent posting medal-winning results.

Following the games, vandals defaced a mural celebrating one of the athletes, gold medal volleyball player Paola Egonu, an Italian of Nigerian descent.

--With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss.

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