A group of Italian descendants gathered this Friday morning, the 4th, in Rome, the capital of Italy, to protest against the drastic and sudden changes to obtaining Italian citizenship, announced by the government of Prime Minister [name missing]. Giorgia Meloni at the end of March.
The mobilization, which included around 150 people of various nationalities — mostly from Brazil — took place in the Piazza dei Santi Apostoli, amidst outrage over the approval of the decree that restricts the transmission of Italian citizenship by right of blood (the right of blood).
Called on social media by Brazilians living in Italy, Argentines, Chileans and Paraguayans joined the green-and-yellows for a “peaceful demonstration” at one of the historic points of the “Eternal City”.
“Anche noi siamo italiani” (“we are Italians too”) and “Decree of Shame” (“decree of shame”) were some of the posters displayed by the protesters, who waved Italian flags everywhere.
“People came from Calabria and also from the north of the country,” Sergio Velloso, 49, who, alongside Andrea Ribeiro, Marcos Balan, Larissa Belantania, Cleonice Silva and Marcos Foschi, organized the event, told ANSA.
“We question the unconstitutionality [of the decree-law], as well as the lack of information about obtaining Italian citizenship here,” explained the intercultural mediator, an Italian citizen recognized under the old law due to a great-grandfather born in Italy.
Although the number of participants seems small, protests with 150 people are considered expressive in Italy, especially in central regions of the capital, where smaller mobilizations are already receiving attention from the media and authorities.
In force since March 28, the new text arrived at the Senate at the beginning of this week and was forwarded to the Constitutional Committee, which will analyze the measure before taking it to the plenary.
Similar to a provisional measure, the decree needs to be approved by both branches of Parliament within 60 days, that is, by the end of May, to become definitive.
