"The European Parliament is today voting on a proposal demanding that Austria eliminate restrictions on members of its former royal family, the Habsburgs, overthrown after World War I." EU To Vote on Italy Royallty Ban By PAUL AMES .c The Associated Press BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The Italian government is facing increasing pressure to allow the return of male members of its former royal family, who have lived in exile since 1948 when the House of Savoy was accused of supporting Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The European Parliament was scheduled to vote today on a proposal demanding that Italy end the ban on the Italian royals. The vote in the 626-seat European Union assembly in Strasbourg, France, would not be binding on the Italian government, but would increase pressure on Rome to lift the ban. ``The exile in perpetuity of male descendants is a 'cruel and unusual punishment' with no place in a modern Europe,'' said the proposed resolution, which was included in a wider report on human rights in the EU. The proposal also demanded that Austria end its restrictions on members of its former royal family, the Habsburgs, who were overthrown after World War I. It called on Italy and Austria to restore ``unconditionally to all members of the former royal houses ... full civil rights including the right to enter freely without ... hindrance their countries of origin.'' If the two governments fail to do so within six months, the proposal calls on the European Commission to take legal action against Italy and Austria at the European Union's high court. A ruling by the court would be legally binding, and an EU member country in violation of a court order could face stiff fines. In Italy, any move to allow the return of the Savoy men requires an amendment to the 1948 constitution. Such an amendment was approved by the lower house of the Rome parliament in 1998, but has been bogged down in the Senate. Italy abolished its monarchy in a 1946 referendum and forced King Umberto II into exile after a reign of just 26 days. Umberto's heir, Victor Emmanuel, was nine when he left Italy with his father. Now 63, he is leading the campaign to end the banishment. In an interview today in the daily La Stampa newspaper, he said his grandfather, King Victor Emmanuel III, was forced by the Fascists to sign racist acts, and insisted it was time to put aside the past accusations against his family. ``I don't know why they keep attacking me on old stories. That's in the past. It has nothing to do with me today, nor with my family,'' Victor Emmanuel was quoted as telling the paper. However the issue of the family's return remains sensitive in Italy, where resentment persists against the Savoy family for its role during Fascist rule. Communist leader Armando Cossutta urged Wednesday that Italy ``reject the request to violate the Italian constitution and declare again that there is no room for the descendants of the ex-king in our country.'' Now living in Switzerland, Victor Emmanuel alienated many Italians in 1997 when he said the Fascist anti-Jewish acts signed by his namesake grandfather in 1927 ``weren't so terrible.'' Austria's Habsburgs are free to enter their homeland, but are restricted from running for some positions of public office and are fighting to reclaim property seized from the family. On the Net: http://www.europarl.eu.int/ http://www.knightlyorders.org/savoia.html
