Anthony Albanese has been re-elected as Prime Minister of Australia. In Barletta, in the Puglia, the celebration looks like a scene from a patriotic film: speeches, statuettes, invitations to honorary citizenship. The reason? The prime minister's father was born there.
The irony? Albanese does not need honorary citizenship. By law, he has been Italian since birth. All that is missing is what is called, in administrative language, settlement. In other words: Italy only needs to recognize what is already planned.
Meanwhile, millions of descendants of Italians remain ignored outside the headlines. Citizenship by jus sanguinis — until then provided for by law — has become a bureaucratic maze, slow and increasingly worrying. The wait lasts years. In many cases, decades. And, increasingly, it seems to lead nowhere.
Italians in power
Albanese is not a unique case. Javier Milei, president of Argentina, is the great-grandson of Italians. Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil, has Italian roots. Luis Lacalle Pou, who led Uruguay until March of this year, is of Italian descent on his mother's side.
In the United States, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the son of immigrants from Campania. Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House, also comes from an Italian family. All have surnames full of consonants and Mediterranean heritage.
Open paradox
Italy only recognizes its children when they become international news. Those who preserve the culture, teach the language, pass on their surname — and only want the right to citizenship — continue to be forgotten.
It is the politics of selective pride. Those who shine on the global stage are rewarded, and those who kept the lights on at home are forgotten. Those who become president win medals. (or passport). Those seeking citizenship receive a waiting list — or a decree limiting rights.
The world is full of leaders with Italian blood. All that remains is for Italy to remember that these sons came from somewhere. And that they might still want to return – and escape anonymity.
