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07. 01. 10. - 16:00

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07. 01. 10. - 16:00

Petition for dual citizenship to circulate in South Tyrol

By Lisa Chapman

South Tyrol People’s Party (SVP) MP Siegfried Brugger has begun to collect signatures on a petition for dual Austrian-Italian citizenship for provincial residents.

He said today (Thurs) he wanted to send "a strong signal to Vienna" about the wishes of the inhabitants of South Tyrol since he could not understand Austrian "scepticism" about dual citizenship.

"It would be a qualitative improvement of our status as a minority party and a new approach in South Tyrolean politics that would be supra-party and promoted on a broader basis," he was quoted as saying in today’s edition of the South Tyrol newspaper Dolomiten.

Brugger’s comments came partially in reaction to recent comments by Tyrol MP Hermann Gahr, the chairman of Parliament’s sub-committee on South Tyrol, who said such a step would "cause an avalanche in other countries."

Brugger, however, claimed dual citizenship would be easier to arrange than the anchoring of Austria’s protective function in the Austrian constitution, which Italy would strongly object to.

Austrian citizenship for residents of South Tyrol was Austria’s business and "absolutely unobjectionable" since Italy already allowed it, he said, adding Austria would be unable to continue to oppose it if residents of South Tyrol demonstrated they were strongly in favour of it.

News of Brugger’s petition initiative follows senior SVP officials’ call yesterday (Mon) for dual citizenship.

South Tyrol SVP Governor Luis Durnwalder and party leader Richard Theiner also called for Austria’s so-called protective function – a largely symbolic status which has no legal force either domestically or internationally in which Austria acts as South Tyrol's protector - to be anchored in the Austrian constitution.

Some Italian politicians have claimed in the past that Austria has used its status as protector to intervene in Italian internal affairs, particularly on issues concerning South Tyrol's political status and budget.

Several SVP MPs called for dual citizenship last month but the move was opposed by the South Tyrol Freedom Party (FPS) which labelled the SVP’s call "embarrassing".

FPS provincial deputy Ulli Mair said that SVP MPs Karl Zeller and Brugger’s proposal for dual citizenship had been "embarrassing" and that the issue should be dealt with by more than one party.

He said the SVP could not claim to represent South Tyrol. "Such an issue should be discussed at a roundtable," Mair said.

South Tyrol has 300,000 residents. The post-World War I Treaty of St. Germain gave Italy sovereignty over South Tyrol, which until then had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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