Italy's ambassador to Austria will not take part in a meeting in Vienna later this month on Austria's proposal to give double Italian and Austrian citizenship to residents of Alto Adige (South Tyrol) who speak German or Ladin, Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Wednesday. Alfano said he had reiterated to Austrian counterpart Karin Kneissl in January that any discussion on the issue must be between Rome and Vienna and not also with Bolzano, which is an autonomous province of Italy.
Therefore, he said, Ambassador Sergio Barbanti will not take part in the March 23 meeting in Vienna.
He said Italy's position against Austria's arguments in defence of its double-citizenship proposal was well-known.
He said such arguments "clash with the high levels of safeguarding and developing minorities in Alto Adige, with the reality of bilateral relations, with the common membership of Italy and Austria in the European Union, and with international law".
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