Now, they vent discontent in South Tyrol, which was once part of Austria, with the uncompromising and indiscriminate lockdown imposed by the Italian government to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The head of the region’s 59,000-member chamber of commerce, Michl Ebner, backed the push for South Tyrol to go its own way on emerging from the virus lockdown. In South Tyrol, ‘’when the order was given not to leave home, people didn’t leave their homes,’’ he said. We underscored that with these fires.’’Wirth Anderlan said he rejects the violence of past secession moves -- although he wants to see South Tyrol become either independent or annexed by Austria. Neither position is on the mainstream South Tyrol political agenda, and both are widely seen as limited to a fringe.

Source: ABC News May 13, 2020 08:15 UTC