Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proposed banning burqas and niqabs in schools, limiting the number of foreign students in classrooms and making Italian language lessons compulsory for parents of foreign students facing “serious difficulties integrating into the school system”.
Meloni outlined the proposed changes on Sunday at a gathering of the youth wing of her nationalist-conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.
“For us, anyone who comes to Italy and wants to build their future here must learn our language, understand our culture, and respect our rules,” she said to a standing ovation at the Gioventù Nazionale national festival in Rome. “It is the only serious way to welcome them.”
The proposed changes would require parliamentary approval within 60 days of being approved by the government to become law.
Meloni’s right-wing administration is Italy’s longest-serving government since the end of the Second World War. However, her party is expected to face a serious challenge in 2027 from the National Future (FN) party, which is further to the right of FdI and has seen its popularity increase in polls since February.
Giorgia Meloni became Italy’s Prime Minister, officially known as the President of the Council of Ministers, on October 22, 2022.
Meloni is a conservative politician who strongly opposes same-sex marriage and surrogacy. She is the first and only woman to hold the office and the head of the longest-serving government in the history of the Italian Republic post-World War II.