An old Lega demand resurfaces
Following the incident at Berlin's Christopher Street Day, a debate over prayer rooms has flared up in Italy
Rome – The attack on the Berlin Pride Parade sparked a domestic political debate in Italy within hours. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini stated on Sunday that Islamic fanaticism is the problem, both in Italy and in Europe. He said that as long as there is no written agreement with the Italian government, no more spaces should be made available to Islamic institutions.
This refers to the so-called “Intesa,” a formal agreement between the state and a religious community, as has been concluded in Italy by several religious denominations—though not yet by Islam. No specific draft bill has been presented yet; this is a political announcement.
This demand highlights an actual regulatory gap. Unlike in Germany, Italy has no national framework law governing Islamic places of worship. Nationwide, there are an estimated 1,250 Muslim places of worship, most of which are informal, often located in repurposed industrial buildings or clubhouses. The issue is therefore regulated primarily at the regional level: In 2015, Lombardy enacted a law that imposed stricter building codes for new places of worship and became known as the “anti-mosque law”; parts of it were later challenged in court.
Other government officials reacted more cautiously. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned all forms of hatred and extremism and expressed her condolences to the victims’ families. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called for European unity against terrorism. The far-right camp took a much harsher tone, launching direct attacks on the political left. The opposition, in turn, demanded a thorough investigation of the case and called for the fight against ideologically motivated violence to be waged on a cultural level; while others accused the government of rhetorically standing up for queer people while continuing to deny them rights regarding marriage and adoption. Several politicians urged that no additional hatred be sown in the wake of the attack.
The attack itself took place on Saturday evening in Berlin’s Tiergarten. A minibus plowed into the crowd, and people were then attacked with a stabbing weapon. One woman died, and 29 people were injured; according to police, as of Sunday, no one was in critical condition. The 21-year-old suspect, a German citizen of Lebanese descent born in Berlin, was shot and killed by special forces on Sunday evening in an allotment garden complex. He had multiple prior convictions, most recently in May for planning a serious act of violence that threatened national security, and was on probation. The German interior minister described the incident as an Islamist terrorist attack.
