Full transcript
0:04[music]
0:10Italy is preparing to overhaul what a
0:12classroom in the country looks like.
0:14Georgia Maloney announced that her
0:16government would bring forward
0:17legislation to prohibit burkas and nabs
0:19in Italian schools. The announcement
0:21came at a youth event organized by her
0:23brothers of Italy party. But this whale
0:26proposal is actually part of a broader
0:28package focused on integration in
0:30Italian schools. Prime Minister Maloney
0:32wants a legal limit on the number of
0:34foreign students in classrooms and she
0:36has proposed compulsory Italian language
0:39lessons for parents of foreign students
0:41facing serious integration difficulties.
0:43Her argument is straightforward. If you
0:45come to Italy, you should learn Italian,
0:47understand the Italian culture and
0:49follow Italian roots. She also framed
0:52the face covering issue around equality
0:54and the idea that girls should attend
0:55schools with their faces visible. This
0:58proposed measure is not yet a law. It
1:00still has to go through the Italian
1:02Parliament before it can take effect.
1:05The measure will soon be presented to a
1:06cabinet meeting to legally establish a
1:09maximum number of foreign students per
1:11class.
1:13[applause]
1:16And not only that, it also requires
1:18parents of foreign students facing
1:20serious difficulties integrating into
1:22the school system to learn Italian and
1:24bans burkas and nikabs in schools.
1:28There is another important distinction.
1:30The debate is primarily about full face
1:33coverings, the burka or the nakab and
1:35not the ordinary hijab. Under Italy's
1:38existing [music] framework, full face
1:39coverings are already subject to
1:41restrictions in certain circumstances,
1:43but there is no nationwide ban that's
1:45equivalent to those in France or
1:47Belgium. So, Georgia Maloney is
1:49proposing that [music] this issue
1:51specifically is taken into the school
1:53system.
1:56But critics ask a simple and central
1:58question. Can a democratic state
2:00restrict what [music] someone wears for
2:02reasons of security, communication,
2:04equality, or social integration? Now
2:06Europe has increasingly answered that
2:07question with yes but in very different
2:09ways. Let's look at the European map.
2:12France was the pioneer. A law introduced
2:14in 2010 and then enforced from 2011
2:17prohibited concealing the [music] face
2:19in public places. That means the French
2:21law was broader than just schools. It
2:23covered public spaces generally. Then in
2:262014, the European Court of Human Rights
2:28upheld the French law against a
2:30challenge, finding no violation of the
2:32convention's rights to private life or
2:34freedom of religion. The court accepted
2:36France's [music] argument around the
2:37idea of maintaining conditions for
2:39social interaction while rejecting some
2:41of the government's other justification.
2:44Belgium also introduced a nationwide
2:46restriction on face covering clothing
2:47[music] in public places. Denmark went a
2:50step further. In 2018, they brought in a
2:52law banning garments that conceal
2:54[music] the face in public. Austria
2:56introduced a full face whale ban in
2:58[music] 2017. It has subsequently gone
3:01further on Islamic dressing in schools,
3:03including a 2025 law that concerns
3:05headscarves for girls under 14.
3:09The Dutch model is a little more
3:10targeted. Since 2019, face coverings are
3:13restricted in places such as schools,
3:15hospitals, and public transport in the
3:17Netherlands.
3:18Bulgaria has had a public space
3:20restriction on full face whales [music]
3:22since 2016.
3:24And this year, Portugal enacted a law
3:26that bans face coverings in public
3:28spaces with exemptions for circumstances
3:31such as health, work, artistic activity,
3:33[music] and weather. So, Italy isn't
3:36creating this debate from scratch. It is
3:38just joining an existing European trend.
3:41But why is this happening? The Burkha
3:43debate is increasingly intersecting with
3:45Europe's wider political battle over
3:47migration and national [music] identity.
3:49Over the past decade, immigration has
3:51become one of the defining political
3:53issues across Europe. The refugee
3:55crisis, the Mediterranean migration,
3:58housing pressure, language barriers, and
3:59crime. Right-wing and far-right parties
4:02have used [music] these issues to
4:04challenge traditional political
4:05establishments. And their influence is
4:07no longer confined to the political
4:09fringes. Italy is the clearest example.
4:13Georgia Maloney came to power leading a
4:15nationalist conservative party and has
4:17now become one of Europe's longest
4:18serving leaders. But look at Germany.
4:21Just recently the farright alternative
4:23for Germany emerged as the largest party
4:25in the Meckenberg Western's state
4:28election according to exit polling while
4:30marking major gains in Berlin.
4:32[cheering] The FD's rise has put
4:34immigration and national identity back
4:35at the center of Germany's political
4:37debate.
4:39Sweden on the other hand offers another
4:41interesting example. The Sweden
4:43Democrats, a right-wing anti-immigration
4:45party, has influenced immigration policy
4:47even while not holding the prime
4:49ministership.
4:50In the September 2026 election, however,
4:52the party lost seats, illustrating an
4:54important point. The European political
4:56story is not simply that right is
4:58winning everywhere, but that the rights
5:00influence over the debate on immigration
5:02and integration is clearly growing. Now,
5:06supporters of these restrictions
5:07generally make several arguments. For
5:09one, security. A face that cannot be
5:11identified can create problems in
5:13schools and public institutions and
5:15security sensitive environments. Second,
5:18communication. Schools depend heavily on
5:20face-to-face communication between
5:22teachers and students. Governments argue
5:24that visible faces facilitate [music]
5:26this interaction.
5:28Reason number three is integration. The
5:30argument is that newcomers should adapt
5:31to the norms of the society they are
5:33entering. Fourth, women's equality. Some
5:36European politicians argue that full
5:38face coverings can reinforce gender
5:40inequality. Melania has explicitly
5:43linked her school proposal to the
5:44principle that women and girls
5:46especially should not be required to
5:48hide their faces. These arguments have
5:51helped make the face whale restrictions
5:53politically viable in multiple European
5:55countries and the European Court of
5:57Human Rights has established that
5:58restrictions on full face whales can
6:00under certain circumstances be
6:02compatible with the European Convention
6:04on Human Rights. But there is another
6:06side to the debate. Critics argue that
6:08these laws disproportionately affect
6:10Muslim women. Human rights organizations
6:12have argued that a supposedly neutral
6:14ban on face coverings can have a very
6:16specific impact on Muslim women who
6:18choose to wear the burka. There is also
6:21a question of proportionality. If
6:23security is the concern, critics ask why
6:25impose a blanket restriction instead of
6:27targeted identity checks.
6:30But the most important takeaway may be
6:32this that the burka is worn by a
6:34relatively small number of Muslim women
6:36in Europe and yet it generates such a
6:39large political debate because it has
6:41become a symbol. For one side it
6:43represents integration, women's rights
6:45and the authority of the state. For
6:47another it represents religious freedom
6:49and an individual's right to make
6:51personal choices. And for Europe's
6:53right-wing parties, the issue sits at
6:55the intersection [music] of three
6:56politically powerful themes.
6:59immigration, identity [music] and
7:00integration. And that's why a piece of
7:03clothing has become a major political
7:05issue. The argument is no longer simply
7:08about a whale. It is about the kind of
7:10society Europe wants to