No unilateral decisions from Austria on double passports: Italy FM

ROME, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Austria won't make any unilateral decisions to offer double passports to German-speaking Italians, ANSA news agency reported Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano as saying Tuesday.

The minister's remarks came after he met in Rome with his Austrian counterpart, Karin Kneissl. The meeting was called after the newly elected government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz sparked tensions with Italy last December, when it suggested it would offer double passports to German-speaking residents of the northern Italian province of Alto Adige, which borders on Austria.

The proposal sparked alarm in Italy over what is being seen as an attempt to sow division in the ethnically diverse province.

Kneissl told reporters that offering Austrian citizenship to German-speaking Italians "is part of the Austrian government's package", but that any such measure would be taken "while taking all parties into account" and that it would require "a long juridical process".

On Monday, Alfano reiterated that Italy's position remains "the historic one", i.e., full recognition of a 1946 agreement concerning Alto Adige.

The 1946 accord "underlies Alto Adige's autonomous status, which is a universally appreciated example of peaceful coexistence and economic development between different language groups," Alfano said.

The bilateral agreement signed in the wake of World War II guaranteed equal rights to German speakers living in the Italian border province, which had been invaded by the Nazis and which had been subjected to strict "Italianization" policies under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, with Germans forbidden to speak their language and being forced to change their names to Italian names.

Kurz, aged just 31, leads the conservative Austrian People's Party and is governing in coalition with the far-right, anti-immigrant and eurosceptic Freedom Party.

The new young chancellor in December sought to downplay the tensions, saying the double passport plan would only be implemented "in close cooperation with Italy and the Rome government", ANSA cited Kurz as saying.

He reportedly added that the double passport proposal was made based on requests from provincial authorities in Alto Adige, which is also known by its German name, South Tyrol. Enditem