The Italian government led by Romano Prodi obtained on Thursday night a confidence vote from the Senate, which approved the law draft allowing authorities to expel EU citizens considered as a risk to the public safety. The amendment was adopted after an extremely tied vote - 160 in favor and 158 against, the opponents of the draft roughly criticizing the racist initiative.
The project should have been discussed on Wednesday, but the debates during the day only covered five amendments. Prodi demanded a vote of confidence for the expelling law and could have been forced to resign in case the project wasn't adopted.
The Decree on expelling EU citizens was adopted by the Government on October 31, 2007, after Romanian Nicolae Mailat was accused of robbing and killing Giovanna Reggiani.
