No need to change citizenship law says Salvini

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 t o 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. Source: Ansa News Agency