Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Tuesday that Muslim immigrant women should not be completely "hidden" behind full veils if they want to integrate and become part of Italy's future.
Since coming to power in May, Italy's centre-left leader has responded to a huge influx of arrivals from Africa by seeking European Union help to patrol the Mediterranean while trying to make it quicker for those already in Italy to become citizens.
In an interview, Prodi was asked about comments by a senior British politician, Jack Straw, a former minister and Leader of the House of Commons, who sparked vigorous debate in Britain by saying full veils made community relations "more difficult".
"You can't cover your face ... you must be seen," Prodi said, adding: "This is common sense I think, it is important for our society. It is not how you dress but if you are hidden or not."
The former head of the European Commission, however, was adamant.
"Immigrants are part of our future," he said.
His comments on the veil echoed those of ex-foreign minister Straw, who said veils had acted as "a visible statement of separation and difference".
Prime Minister Tony Blair backed Straw, calling the full veil "a mark of separation."
Like Britain, Italy does not specifically restrict the wearing of the veil, but it has in the past had laws against covering your face in public for security reasons.
France, however, has a law banning "conspicuous symbols" of faith such as Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, from schools.
Prodi angered the centre-right opposition led by former premier Silvio Berlusconi with his immigration policy by proposing to halve an application period for Italian citizenship to five years, in exchange for observation of Italian laws.
"The problem is to have clear rules, so that if they behave, if they respect the law, if they are good citizens, they can become Italian citizens," Prodi said.
Opinion polls show immigration is the top concern for voters on the centre-right in Italy, which was very narrowly defeated by Prodi in April's elections.
But Prodi said it was "a problem not just for right-wing voters, it is a problem for everybody ... because for the first time a country that was a country of emigration is a country receiving a wave of immigrants".
But he contrasted his own policy with that of the Berlusconi government, a coalition that included the hard-right Northern League which traditionally takes a tough stand on immigrants.
"The right-wing policy was to close their eyes and let immigrants come in, (but) be very restrictive in theory. My policy is let us guide immigration, guarantee immigrants their rights and try to be realistic about this flow of people."
Italy and some of its southern European neighbours will propose a common EU immigration policy at a summit in Finland later this week, Prodi said, with a decision hopefully to be taken at a later summit in Brussels in December.
Reuters
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