In Italy, the debate on the acquisition of nationality has been relaunched after the performances of transalpine athletes at the Paris Olympics

Currently, in Italy, the right of blood prevails to obtain nationality. But since the Olympics, the right-wing party Forza Italia has proposed the “right of the pen” thanks to which citizenship could be obtained when a child has been educated for at least five years in Italy.

Forza Italia, the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi and part of the majority right-wing coalition, is putting the “right of the pen” back on the table. Also called, in Latin, more schoolsit actually provides for granting Italian citizenship to children born in Italy to foreign parents or who arrived in the country before the age of 12, provided that they have attended school for at least five years without interruption in Italy. Today, it is the law of blood that applies in this country. Those born in Italy to foreign parents must wait until they are 18 to obtain citizenship, provided that they have lived in the country for the entire time.

This idea of ​​the more schools is not new. This and the debate on the acquisition of citizenship are resurfacing in Italy in mid-August, in connection with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Italians have seen compatriots born to foreign parents shine, like the star volleyball players and now Olympic champions: Paola Egonu, whose parents are from Nigeria and Myriam Sylla, born to Ivorian parents. The left, which has been arguing for years for the right of the soil, therefore wanted to relaunch the debate. And it received an echo from part of the majority with the more schools.

“We are absolutely opposed, we have always said it and we repeat it, to the right of the soil proposed by the left, said Raffaele Nevi, spokesman for Forza Italia, to National Daily. We believe that citizenship must be earned through education. Silvio Berlusconi was convinced of this and we still are.”

“School promotes the integration of foreigners because it allows them to internalize respect for the values ​​of our country.”

Rafaelle Nevi, spokesperson for Forza Italia

in “National Daily”

Antonio Tajani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and leader of Forza Italia also declared: “There is no Italian Serie A or Serie B […] The strength of our country also comes from our ability to integrate foreign people.” “The ‘lus scholae’ is not a shift to the left, he said, while specifying that he was against the idea of ​​granting citizenship. “to everyone” and recalling the need to combat illegal immigration.

From this point of view, Forza Italia, the moderate wing of the majority, stands out, and this is new, within the majority coalition, in particular from the ultra-right line of the League and the populist party of Giorgia Meloni, Fratelli d’Italia. The Prime Minister is in fact keen to preserve the “right of blood” and she opposes the “right of the pen”. Fratelli d’Italia which remains rather silent on the subject, unlike the League.

According to the Italian daily newspaper,UnitMatteo Salvini’s party has in fact reacted to the proposal of its ally, Forza Italia, by producing a note accompanied by a photomontage. It shows, side by side, the face of the leader of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani and that of the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein. The message read: “The citizenship law is fine as it is. There is no need for birthright citizenship or shortcuts.”.

Moreover, at the beginning of the summer, Silvio Berlusconi’s daughter said that she agreed more often with the left than with the government on civil rights. She was clearly heard at Forza Italia. It remains to be seen whether this debate will survive the summer to be relaunched in Parliament at the start of the school year.