Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani denied Tuesday all the media reports alleging that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had applied for Italian citizenship.

"Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro never applied for Italian citizenship. But there are laws. There are people who have the right to ask for it, but he did not," Tajani told Italian broadcaster Rai Radio 1.

Italian Green Europe party leader Angelo Bonelli send on Monday an official request to the foreign ministry, asking Rome to clarify whether Bolsonaro and his family had applied for Italian citizenship in light of Brazilian media reports that they were intending to do so after the former president reportedly escaped from his country before his presidential term was over.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that Bolsonaro's sons, Flavio and Eduardo, had a birthright to Italian citizenship and applied in 2019, a matter that was confirmed by the Italian authorities in November.

Citing Bolsonaro's close relationship with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and League Party leader Matteo Salvini, the Italian daily said the ex-Brazilian president had no intention to return home and was going to join his sons by becoming a citizen of Italy.

A scandal broke out in Italy in late 2021 after the small northern town of Anguillara Veneta granted Bolsonaro, whose great-grandfather was born there, the title of honorary citizen. Vittorio Bolzonaro was born on April 12, 1878, in Anguillara Veneta, and emigrated to Brazil at the age of 10, where his surname was later changed to fit local pronunciation.

Supporters of Bolsonaro broke into the Planalto presidential palace and Congress building on Sunday, in protest against leftist President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva who defeated far-right Bolsonaro in the presidential elections held on October 30.

Hundreds of protesters holding the Brazilian flag stormed the national congress and took the roofs waving the country's flags despite attempts by security officers to contain the unrest, an AFP photographer reported.

Related News

Bolsonaro, allies formally named in coup attempt: Brazil police

Argentina orders arrest of 61 Brazilians linked to 2023 Brasilia riots

The Supreme Court building in the vicinity of the presidential palace was also raided by the protestors.

It is worth noting that at the time of the riots, Lula was in Sao Paolo on an official trip. The Brazilian President told a press conference following the incident that "these vandals, whom we could call fanatical fascists, did what has never been done in the history of this country," adding that "all these people who did this will be found and they will be punished."

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro tweeted that he had been hospitalized in Florida with abdominal pains stemming from a near-fatal knife attack when he was campaigning for the presidency in 2018.

Bolsonaro has alleged that he is the victim of a conspiracy against him by Brazil's courts and electoral authorities.

The ex-President traveled to Orlando on the second-to-last day of his term -- snubbing Lula's inauguration, in a break with tradition.

Bolsonaro, 67, took to Twitter Sunday night to condemn the "pillaging" in Brasilia but rejected Lula's accusations that he incited the attacks and defended the right to what he called "peaceful protests".

Read more: US indirectly asks Bolsonaro to leave country

He was seen wandering the streets of Orlando, Florida, after shamefully leaving Brazil with a trail of damages behind him. According to Istoe Magazine, he wants to retire in Italy and has asked the Italian embassy in Brazil to speed up citizenship procedures for him and his family. 

It's only a matter of time until Judge Alexandre de Moraes issues an arrest warrant for all the damage he has caused, mainly for spreading fake information about AIDS' link to the Covid-19 vaccine, which he was charged with by the Federal Police.

However, his only option is to arrive in Italy on time and obtain citizenship because Italy does not have an extradition treaty.