People in the autonomous
Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige will be able to apply to
have Austrian passports next year, according to the far-right
Freedom Party (FPO), a coalition partner in the new government.
"The people of South Tyrol will be able to apply for Austrian
citizenship from 2018, at the start of 2019 at the latest," said
lawmaker Werner Neubaur, FPO's chief of relations with
Trentino-Alto Adige.
He said the request can be made from people who declare
themselves to be ethnic Germans.
It will be valid for their children too and free, he said.
He added that, in future, it will be possible for athletes
from Trentino-Alto Adige to represent Austria.
Italy has rejected the idea mooted by the new Austrian
government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to grant Austrian
passports to people living in Trentino Alto Adige who speak
German or Ladin.
"Even if done with the velvet glove of Europeanism, Kurz's
proposal has the mark of an ethno-nationalist iron fist,"
Foreign Undersecretary Benedetto Della Vedova said on his
Facebook page.
"To clear citizenship on an ethnic basis would have very
serious effects in a multicultural and open Europe".
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