This weekend, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni again stated that the reform of citizenship rules proposed by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, is not among the government's priorities.
A proposal from the conservative Forza Italia (FI) party would seek to restrict access to citizenship for Italian descendants whose parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were born outside Italy, thus limiting the right of blood (jus sanguinis), but without affecting processes already in progress.
On the other hand, the proposal contemplates citizenship for foreigners born in Italy or who arrived in the country before the age of five, on the condition that they apply for it at the age of 16, after ten uninterrupted years of residence in Italy and completion of the school cycle by that age.
Currently, “jus sanguinis” has no generational limit, while children of immigrants born in Italy only have the right to citizenship when they turn 18.
“Beyond the merits of the citizenship issue, on which I can share some points of the Forza Italia proposal and not others, I believe it is our responsibility to prioritize the commitments we made in the government program,” said Meloni in a new book by journalist and presenter Bruno Vespa.
“The main problem for second-generation young [immigrants] is the bureaucratic complications involved in obtaining citizenship when they reach adulthood. I think we can talk about this instead of changing the structure of the citizenship law. But we will talk to our allies later, as always,” said the Prime Minister.
Meloni, leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, has already expressed reservations about the proposal from the FI, led by Tajani, as has the nationalist League party of Infrastructure and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.
“We are willing to debate with everyone, it is a serious proposal. We need good citizens, I don't care where they were born and skin color,” the prime minister said at an event over the weekend.
(With information from Ansa Brasil )
