Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has not applied for Italian citizenship and is unlikely to obtain it if he applies. This was stated by the Italian foreign minister on Tuesday, denying a statement by the Brazilian press.
The former far-right leader, narrowly defeated by leftist candidate Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva in the October 30 presidential election, is the subject of at least four judicial investigations in Brazil. He is currently in the United States. According to the Brazilian media, like here the weekly istoethe former president would seek to obtain Italian citizenship, one of his great-grandparents having been born in Anguillara, in northeastern Italy.
Bolsonaro’s children apply for Italian citizenship
Italian law allows for the recognition of citizenship”iure sanguinis“(by right of blood) for anyone who can prove the presence of Italian ancestors, without any generational limit, the former Brazilian president and his children would then be eligible. But Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani denied this information. “He didn’t ask for it and, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t think he can have it,” the minister told Italian national radio.
The head of diplomacy confirmed that two of Bolsonaro’s four children, his sons Flavio and Eduardo, applied for citizenship in 2020. Their application is still pending, which could take years due to high demand at consulates. On Sunday, pro-Bolsonaro activists looted Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential offices in Brasilia.
Source: BFM TV
