Austria's dual-citizenship proposal sparks anger in Italy

Part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for over five centuries, South Tyrol was ceded to Italy after World War I, but awarded autonomous status. TRT World's Sarah Morice reports from Bolzano.

[neilblackman]

Whilst I don't really have much against the Italians it is clear that the native inhabitants are ethnic Germans speaking a Bavarian dialect . So should at least be given the option of joining the Austrian part of Tirol .

[pietrosantorsola]

That is not the Austrian flag.. but the regional flag of Alto Adige/South Tyrol. Also, those are not Austrian traditional clothes, but rather typical styles of the people who live in the Dolomites which can be both Italy and Austria

[walsch]

I am from italian Tyrol, Trentino. My ancestors were ethnic germans. My surname is german. The double citizenship should be given without any kind of problems. My family lived the italianization and this is enough to give justice for a big crime committed in the history. This crime was before the WWII and was decided in Versailles by the winners of the WWI..now we are in Europe and shouldn't be problems in those cases.

[AkhmatProductions]

I don't think germany would do the same with the citizens of alsace lorraine.... France would get so angry

[Nome_utente_generico]

South Tyrol is in the Italian geographical area: from there it would be militarily possible to split northern Italy in two, separating Milan from Venice. therefore Italy, in order to make the Tyroleans "happy", guarantees them great linguistic, cultural and economic autonomy. and benefits of all kinds.

[jonnykaykorn]

Woodrow Wilson wrongly handed this region to italy in the treaty of versailles, now trentino alto adige that was italian. Of course, they're not going to feel italian, when theye were only annexed ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, and everything about their culture to language is german, same with alsace and northern lorraine outside of major cities.

[wissbegierigkeit]

Sicily has 400 years of Hispanic history, but I see nobody claiming they belong to another nation

[louis]

Both are in the EU so what’s the big deal they can live in either country if they want.

[kremsoceidref]

Go back further and it probably was Celtic. Italy annexed SudTirol after the the USA entered WWI & allowed many grabs on territory by countries that would never have been capable of taking the land militarily. They got it like vultures after a kill by a lion. The status won't change because of the EU, but it is no more valid than Russia taking the Crim.

[javierxhr]

Austria has the same arquitecture than germany, the same language so... Austria is Germany?

[kekule]

careful what you wish for.. now you are a cool place, a region with a special status, allowed to keep 90% of your taxes. being a peripheral Austrian province is worse by any stretch of the imagination.

[frida]

Which language is the first, official language in schools for example? Do most people speak Italian fluently as well? Beautiful landscape and buildings. Want to go there... maybe next summer...

[gayleralan]

I live in the South of Austria also near the Italian border (Carinthia). German was (once upon a time, forced on us) the invaders language, before that we were Celts that the Romans conquered. Language is the only thing we share with Germans, everything is very mixed influence or mish mash as we say. For me personaly - we are the alpe adria region ( and we share the same dna, which makes us one people.

[panter]

It is very simple, South Tyrol is the Italian Geograpghical Area, south of Alps. Given the aggressive nature of the Austrian Empire which has messed up in Northern Italy for century, the region was given to Italy in order to avoid future wars. Simple as that.

[enricoguatteo]

They know the way to become Austrian, it's enough drive few kilometres and the play is done

[yanni]

I don't see where the issue is. both countries are part of the EU and Schengen, travel and business is between their region and Austria is easy etc.

[local_ITA]

Von mir aus kann südtirol eine eigene Region werden.
Von mir aus auch mehr autonomie kriegen.
aber doppelte staatsburgerschaft ist echt dreist von Österreich.
wir gehen auch nicht nach Korsika und bieten den einwohnern italienische Pässe.
mit dieser politik gibt es nur konflikt und eskalation

[ThisTheAviator]

People conveniently forget that south tyrol was annexed because it's the most defensible border possible, a necessity due to the historically predatory attitude of the austrian "empire" towards Italy.
If you don't like it go to austria.

[IncogNidos]

War between Italy and Austria should strengthen the eu 🤣🤣🤣

[vtommy]

Why is Italy against the citizens getting Austrian passports? Here in the US, I have multiple friends with dual citizenship. I could see an issue with not wanting to give up the land and change the borders due to national defense, mineral rights, or other issues, but if the people have Germanic roots, forcing them to be Italian isn't going to change how they feel about their heritage. If the people feel Austrian, and Austria wants to give them passports, I don't see the issue.