In view of the European elections in June, the Friulian municipality of Monfalcone is dealing with the high number of foreign residents and the political positions of the city’s Northern League mayor, candidate for the European Parliament
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A few days before the scheduled European vote the8 and 9 June in Italy, the debate ignites in a northern municipality with just over 30 thousand inhabitants. We are talking about Monfalcone which has become the municipality in Italy, among those with at least 15 thousand inhabitants, with the greatest concentration of regular foreigners: they are about a third of the populationand over 5 thousand of these come from Bangladesh, followed by Romania and the former Yugoslavia. Two out of three newborns in Monfalcone they are children of immigrants, most of them integrated into the local community and working life also thanks to the headquarters of Fincantieri, the Italian public company specialized in shipyards.
As of January 1, 2023, there were 20,600 Italian residents in Monfalcone, almost 9,000 foreigners, numbers which over the years have created tensions with the local population and the political world.
The Northern League mayor against Muslims
Since 2016 Anna Maria Cisint (Lega) is mayor of the city and currently a candidate in the European elections in June. Since you have been in office, Cisint has started a permanent clash with the Bengali Muslim community. In the summer of 2023, the mayor’s open letter to the local Muslim community hit the news in which she wrote that the practice of accessing the beach and the water wearing clothing other than swimsuits should stop.
Under the leadership of mayor Cisint, the city council has also adopted controversial measures against the Muslim community, including the ban on Friday prayers in some places.
