Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in an interview given on the occasion of the 80th anniversary ceremony of the Italian newspaper 'Il Tempo', spoke, among other things, about the agreement with Albania for immigrants.
Meloni said that despite the obstacles and even though a part of politics does not agree with this interpretation and how immigration should be managed, he is determined to move forward.
Melon's full speech
I will work day and night, but I will also give the answers that the Italians are waiting for. I was surprised by the request of the DP MEPs to initiate a procedure against Italy for the Italy-Albania protocol. I feel obliged to remind you that the protocol was approved by the Parliament of the Republic of Italy and it is not normal for Italian representatives to go to Europe to seek the punishment of Italy.
I will not allow a model that we have identified to be in full compliance with Italian and European law to be dismantled, because there is a part of politics that does not agree with this interpretation and how immigration should be managed. I am determined to move forward.
No legal state can ignore the management of migratory flows and the fight against illegal immigration, because illegal immigration is the enemy of legal migration. I think the judiciary also agrees with me. The decision that returned the emigrants from Albania is unreasonable and dictated by a vision very different from that of the government.
The judges refer to a decision of the European Court, but the ignorance of those irregular immigrants started much earlier. One of the judges had publicly declared his opposition to the Italy-Albania protocol. If those migrants had stayed in Lampedusa or been sent to some center in Italy, there would have been the same result. The Italy-Albania Protocol can objectively change the management of flows.
It will work, I don't allow it to be disassembled. The issue of Albania has been instrumentalized. The Italy-Albania protocol is a project that can really change the topic of managing migratory flows. Everyone understands this. They understand the European countries that are supporting us. I remind you that the topic of finding new solutions for dealing with the issue of illegal migration was also in the conclusions of the last meeting of the European Council.
There was also a letter from 14 countries of the European Union asking the European Commission to analyze, deepen and consider the possibilities to repeat this model. It is clear that those who want to stop illegal migration understand that this can be a positive turn and those who do not want it to stop understand that this can be a negative turn.