South Tyrol parties resist plan to shrink Bozen Unterland Senate district

The Italian government majority has introduced a proposal to alter the Senate electoral district of Bozen (Bolzano) Unterland, which could reduce its size and change the balance between German‑speaking and Italian‑speaking communities. The South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP) has mobilised its members from the Unterland and Überetsch regions, condemning the amendment as a breach of the autonomy agreement secured under “Package measure 111,” which guarantees proportional representation for linguistic groups. The SVP argues that any unilateral change would violate the protection of the German‑speaking minority and could even infringe on Austria’s historically recognised safeguard role under international law. The party pledged to block the reduction, schedule further internal meetings, and demand strict adherence to the autonomy package and related legal obligations.