ROME (AP) – Bogged down by leftist opposition amendments, Italy’s Senate on Tuesday delayed the start of a debate on the right-wing government’s contested immigration crackdown, while a minister’s warning to Italians about “ethnic substitution” triggered anger.
Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, made the controversial comment in a speech at a labour union gathering, Lollobrigida, who hails from Premier Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy warned Italians against surrendering to the idea that they “have fewer children and substitute themselves with someone else”.
Lollobrigida’s words are “disgusting”, said lawmaker Elly Schlein who leads the Democratic Party, Parliament’s largest opposition force. She said the comments evoke the notion of ‘white supremacy’ and hark back to the 1930s, when Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime rewarded Italians who had large families.
Meloni campaigned for election as Italy’s first far-right premier last fall on a platform that included a pledge to help Italians have children. The country has one of the world’s lowest birth rates, and a significant percentage of births are now registered to non native-born Italians.
