Italy rejects Austria's South Tyrol plan

rome - The Italian Government strongly rejects Austria's plan to offer Austrian citizens the Austrian nationality. She has learned that Vienna is working on a legal text that allows the inhabitants of the Alto Adige province, regardless of whether they speak German or Italian, to give an Austrian passport. 'That initiative is misplaced because of the disturbing founding effect that may possibly go,' said Rome in a reaction.

The new coalition of the northern neighbor, formed by the ÖVP and the right-wing populist FPÖ, had already included the dual citizenship proposal for South Tyroleans at the end of 2017 in the coalition agreement. Austria lost the area to Italy after the First World War in 1918. Even now, 70 percent of residents have German as their mother tongue. At the same time there is also spoken Romans (Ladinisch) here and there. In Italy, South Tyrol enjoys an autonomous status.