Dec
Italy is making changes to its controversial budget to avoid EU sanctions, as gloomy economic figures spark fears of recession. The Italian government has announced the first changes to its big-spending “people’s budget” in hopes of avoiding sanctions from Brussels. The budget committee is now examining changes made to the controversial “people’s budget” this morning […]
Nov
Italy’s parliament will have the last word on the UN migration pact, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on November 28, so its officials will not attend a conference next month to ratify it. Italy “reserves the right to adhere to this document or not only after the parliament has decided,” Conte said. Italian officials would […]
Nov
Italy on Wednesday adopted far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s tough anti-migrant and security decree, despite fierce criticism from the left. The bill, which makes it easier to expel migrants and limits residency permits, was passed in the lower house of parliament with 396 in favour to 99 against. “I’m happy, it’s a memorable day,” Salvini […]
Nov
Italy has called for the seizure of the Aquarius migrant rescue ship, alleging it illegally dumped 24 tonnes of potentially toxic waste in its ports. One of two charities that lease the Aquarius, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), condemned the measure as “unfounded and sinister”. The Aquarius is involved in a long-running feud with Italy over […]
Nov
The decree will radically reduce the number of migrants receiving “humanitarian protection”, a lower level of asylum status based on Italian rather than international law. Italy’s senate on Wednesday cleared the way for far-right leader Matteo Salvini’s tough anti-migrant and security decree to become law. The populist government of Salvini’s League and Luigi Di Maio’s […]
Oct
Italy’s far-right League party intervened on October 28 to block efforts by a Muslim association to turn a former hospital chapel into a mosque. The Muslim group last week made the highest offer for the chapel in the northern city of Bergamo at an auction organized by a local hospital, outbidding the Romanian Orthodox Church which […]
Oct
Hundreds of migrants living in an Italian town famed for welcoming newcomers in a bid to boost its economy are to be removed on orders from the far-right government. They will be transferred to centers in other parts of the country next week. Riace, in the southern Calabria region, has made headlines across the world for a […]
Oct
Deputies from the far-right League party in northern Italy have announced plans to ban mothers from wearing Islamic veils, such as the burqa and niqab, when picking up their children from school. Simona Pergreffi and Daniele Belotti, League deputies in Bergamo province, called for the ban, citing the security need for people in schools to […]
Oct
The mayor of a small town in southern Italy who has become a symbol for welcoming migrants to Italy has been placed under house arrest for allegedly aiding illegal immigration. Italian financial police arrested the mayor of the Calabrian town of Riace, Domenico Lucano, early Tuesday as part of an investigation that news agency ANSA reports was spurred […]
Sep
The African Union Commission has expressed dismay at the comments made by Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini at a recent conference in Vienna at which he compared African immigrants to slaves. “It is the view of the African Union that name-calling will not resolve the migration challenges facing Africa and Europe,” the African Union […]
