Rome anger over Austrian passports plan for north Italy’s German speakers

The Italian Foreign Minister summoned the Austrian ambassador yesterday after plans emerged for Vienna to offer citizenship to the German-speaking minority in Italy’s north.

Austrian officials confirmed plans for a new nationality law that allows German speakers with a historic link to the country to claim Austrian passports.

The move has angered the government in Rome as a potential wedge that could open up the prospect of divided loyalties among its own citizens.

Given that both states are members of the EU, which confers a joint citizenship, Italy maintains there is no need for the proposal.

Confronted with newspaper reports of its proposals, the right-wing government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz disputed only that the plans would be published in September.

The law would mean Austrian citizenship granted to those in the south Tyrol region around Bolzano who speak German or Ladin, another minority language. The offer would not be available to the Italian speakers in the area.

“The possibility to grant Austrian citizenship to ethnic groups of German and Ladin mother tongue takes place in the spirit of European integration and the European peace project,” a spokesman said.

Italian officials condemned the move as inappropriate and hostile, especially as Austria this month assumed the rotating presidency of the EU. “Before being a hostile act, it is a frankly curious act, the suitability of which we are wondering about,” said Enzo Moavero, the Italian Foreign Minister.

“Granting citizenship of a state to the citizens of another state with which they already share European citizenship seems to us a big fudge of citizenship and words.”

But regional politicians from South Tyrol support the offer. An estimated 60 per cent of South Tyroleans speak German compared to about 25 per cent who speak Italian and 4 per cent who speak Ladin.

The move has angered the government in Rome as a potential wedge that could divided loyalties among its own citizens

There are calls for the Austrians to extend the initiative and allow residents in the Trentino region, just below South Tyrol, to apply. A large part of Italy, including the northern city of Trieste, was once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

“The Austrian government must consider the descendants of those individuals who lived under the monarchy,” the local Trentino Tyrolean Autonomous Party said.

Francesco Palermo, an Italian constitutional law expert, said the development could unravel bilateral accords between Austria and Italy.