The Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Veneto, Italy, has just ruled that the municipality of Zoldo Valley, in the province of Belluno, finalize the process of recognizing the Italian nationality of a group of Brazilians, granting them the right to Italian documents.
The ruling, published this Friday, October 25, orders the municipality to register the birth and marriage certificates of Brazilians recognized as Italian citizens, a measure that should be completed within 90 days.
The decision also indicates that, if the municipality fails to comply, the execution of the sentence will be the responsibility of the City of Belluno, that is, an intervener.
Symbol of resistance
The Mayor of Val di Zoldo, Camillo De Pellegrin, stands out as a figure of firm opposition to the demand for citizenship by people of Italian descent, receiving significant media exposure in Italy for his statements on the subject.
In a controversial position, he argues that the plaintiffs' lawyers omitted the information that the city had already begun to comply with the process months ago, avoiding, according to him, a more favorable decision. "The situation is tragicomic," the mayor laments, emphasizing that the plaintiffs must assume part of the responsibility for the delays.
Operation turtle
The TAR's decision came in response to the municipality's lack of action, which, claiming an excess of processes, developed a kind of “Operation Turtle” to process applications.
Currently, more than 500 citizenship applications are backlogged, according to a newspaper publication Il Gazzettino, awaiting registration of citizenship by blood right (iure sanguinis)Many of these processes have been pending since 2019, creating growing frustration among Italian-Brazilians who are waiting for the procedures to be completed so they can obtain their Italian citizenship and passport.
While some Italian municipalities historically affected by migratory flows to South America are also facing massive demands, the slow and deliberate operation of Zoldo Valley is seen by some as a strategy to discourage new requests for citizenship recognition.
As a result, Italian-Brazilians who could seek the same right end up being demotivated by the long waiting time.
