Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has not applied for Italian nationality, as reported by some Brazilian media, but he probably wouldn’t get it even if he applied. Hundreds of his supporters have been arrested since Sunday after breaking into and vandalizing the headquarters of the country’s most representative institutions: parliament, the presidential residence and the Supreme Court.
Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a leftist who took office on January 1 after defeating his far-right rival Bolsonaro in October elections, has vowed to bring those responsible for the attempt to justice. of coup to the democracy of the weekend. For now, the authorities have tracked the people who rented the 40 buses that brought the pro-coup leaders to Brasilia.
Bolsonaro flew to the United States late last year, 48 hours before his term was due to end. The far-right ex-president, beyond the insurrection on Sunday, from which he distanced himself from Florida, rejected from Florida, is being investigated in Brazil in at least four criminal proceedings. And the Brazilian media have reported that he intends to apply for Italian nationality, after a deputy has submitted an urgent query to the Government about the possibility that the former Brazilian president wants to travel to Italy with his family.
Bolsonaro has never asked for Italian nationality
But the vice president and foreign minister of Italy, Antonio Tajani, denied the information. “He has never asked for it and I am not aware that he can obtain it,” said the head of Italian diplomacy on the Radio 1 station. “Then there are State laws” that establish who “has the right to request it” and can obtain it, because “it does not It’s a personal choice,” he stressed.
Under Italian law, people can claim nationality if they can prove they had Italian ancestors, with no generational limits. But criminal records are taken into account when applications are submitted.
Bolsonaro’s great-grandfather was born in Anguillara, in northeastern Italy, making the former Brazilian president and his children eligible for citizenship. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that two of Bolsonaro’s four sons, Edoardo and Flavio, applied for citizenship in 2020, in case they had to leave the country. Your application is still being processed. The Italian consulates in the countries where the applications are submitted deal with the application and are expected to process the documentation within 24 months.
no preferential treatment
However, a diplomatic source said Italy’s consulates in Brazil had been inundated with applications, meaning it would likely be years before applicants would receive an Italian passport.
Tajani’s statement comes after Angelo Bonelli, co-spokesperson for Green Europe and deputy for Alianza Verdes Izquierda, presented an urgent consultation for Tajani in Parliament on Monday, alleging that there is information that Bolsonaro intends to request Italian nationality. .
“The Italian government must be clear: no nationality for the children of Bolsonaro and the former president. It will not be granted to supporters of the coup,” Bonelli said, noting that according to the weekly Istoèhe and the whole family “intend to obtain nationality at the Embassy in Brasilia and come to Italy as soon as possible.”
Two of Bolsonaro’s sons have applied for Italian nationality, which is pending a response
Bonelli recalled that “Bolsonaro has been in Florida (USA) since December 31, 2022 and since January 1 he no longer has immunity and there are several judicial measures pending against him”, in a note, in which he assured that the mayoress of the Anguillara Veneta League granted Bolsonaro honorary citizenship, which his party has appealed to the Justice.
Likewise, Bonelli accused Bolsonaro of actively supporting the attack on the three powers of Brazil by thousands of followers of the former president.
Position of the Italian Government
The rest of the formations of the parliamentary opposition have also insisted on the need for “a clearer intervention” by the ultra-right Italian government against what happened last Sunday, when thousands of Bolsonaro followers invaded the main institutional headquarters in Brazil before being evicted by the police, who regained control hours later.
The main opposition group, the Democratic Party (PD), demanded the appearance of the Government in the Italian Parliament, from which “strong solidarity with democracy and the Brazilian people” must emanate, while the 5 Star Movement called for “unequivocal support for the President da Silva”.
Matteo Salvini
The leader of the League, a partner in the ruling coalition, has referred to Bolsonaro in the past as a friend.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, heir to fascism, had described the invasion as “unacceptable and incompatible with any form of democratic dissidence”, before adding: “What is happening in Brazil cannot leave us indifferent. The images of the invasion in institutional positions are unacceptable and incompatible with any form of democratic dissent”.
Bolsonaro, who was admitted Tuesday to an Orlando hospital for abdominal paintold CNN Brazil that he had planned to stay in the United States until the end of January, but now planned to return to Brazil earlier to see his doctors.
Italy’s right-wing Liga party, which is part of the ruling coalition, has close ties to Bolsonaro and the League’s leader, Matteo Salvini, has referred to him in the past as a friend. Bolsonaro visited his great-grandfather’s house in 2021 and was granted “honorary citizenship” of Anguillara by the mayor, who is a League politician. The move is being challenged in Italy’s supreme court.
Italy is not aware that Jair Bolsonaro can obtain Italian nationality if he requests it