Deputy Premier and Transport Minister
Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party, said on Monday that
there is "no need, no urgency" to change Italy's citizenship
law.
"Today, Italy is the European country which grants more
citizenships", he noted.
"There is a law, it works.
"Let's deal with other things, the certainty of punishment,
safer and more modern prisons, chemical castration for
paedophiles and rapists", he said during a live stream on social
media.
The League leader went on to say that "in the government's
program there is neither Ius Scholae nor Ius Soli".
He added that Italy "in 2022 was the European country that
granted more citizenships to foreign nationals and I think we
should focus more on proficiency in the Italian language",
noting that "quite a few people acquire citizenship without
speaking a word of Italian".
Last week, the League's government partner Forza Italia (FI)
expressed willingness to consider a reform on citizenship,
outlining a roadmap to draft a proposal in September to change
the current legislation, with the support of opposition parties
Azione, Italia Viva and the Five-Star Movement (M5S).
Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party has not
shown interest in changing the current legislation.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Left, is less keen on
Forza Italia's idea of a 'Ius Scholae' (in Latin, law of the
right to study) which would potentially grant citizenship to
foreign minors who have completed one or two cycles of studies
rather than the 'Ius Soli' it is championing (in Latin, law of
the soil) under which those born in Italy would be Italian.
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