Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni Silveri | Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images Italy outraged at Swiss ‘locals first’ vote Italian foreign minister says stifling free movement puts EU-Switzerland relationship ‘at risk.’

A vote in a southern Swiss region that would force employers to prioritize local residents over foreigners caused outrage in neighboring Italy.

The measure — dubbed "ours first" and promoted by the right-wing Swiss People's Party— was backed by 58 percent of voters in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino on Sunday, reported ANSA. It calls for the canton's constitution to be amended so that when job candidates have the same professional qualifications, employers should priorities those living locally over those living abroad.

However, more than 62,000 Italians cross the border every day to work in Ticino.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeted that the vote will have no immediate "practical impact" but warned that stifling free movement put Switzerland's relationship with the EU "at risk."

Ticino authorities said that despite the vote, the text would be difficult to enforce due to "a harmonization problem especially in relation to the federal laws, which our canton is obliged to respect," according to AFP.

A Swiss referendum in 2014 that demanded immigration quotas has put pressure on the country's relationship with the EU. The “Stop Mass Immigration” referendum won 50.3 percent of the vote. The Swiss have to have a law on the subject in place by February 2017.

Margaritis Schinas, spokesman for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said of the referendum: "Yesterday's vote will not make the already difficult talks any easier."