Giorgia Meloni will advocate for the establishment of migrant return centers in Africa during discussions among EU ministers on the migration crisis in Ceuta this week. The Prime Minister of Italy has long championed the Italian-developed centers for housing and returning migrants in northern Albania as a model she believes other EU countries should adopt.
The Italian Minister of Internal Affairs, Matteo Piantedosi, is expected to present the “Albanian model” during a video conference of EU interior ministers on Tuesday. Meloni and her fellow prime ministers have begun holding morning meetings on migration issues in Brussels ahead of the summits of the European Council, which occur approximately every two months. The Italian prime minister has used these meetings to garner international support for a stricter migration policy, including a push to reform the European Convention on Human Rights.
Despite a decrease in illegal arrivals to the EU, the bloc continues to face challenges in deporting individuals who have been denied asylum. At the June summit, EU countries signed a joint declaration calling for the “full use” of a new European law that permits the establishment of migrant return centers outside the bloc’s territory.
Criticism and disputes over EU migration policy
Pedro Sánchez, the left-wing Prime Minister of Spain, has been one of the most vocal critics of these plans, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, who remarked: “I am not sure this is our Europe.” Sánchez described such initiatives as a “mirage,” “futile,” and “ineffective.”
During a heated exchange between the leaders, Meloni criticized Sánchez’s decision to grant amnesty to some migrants, arguing it could have repercussions for other members of the Schengen Zone. She reiterated these claims following the crisis in Ceuta. Her stance was backed by her political ally Santiago Abascal, the leader of the Spanish far-right party Vox.
Vox aims to form a coalition with Spain’s center-right party after the next general elections, which Sánchez, facing a corruption scandal involving his Socialist Party and his wife, must call by August of next year.
Intervention by the European Commission and support for Spain
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has sought to ease tensions between Spain and other EU countries regarding the crisis in Ceuta. In a letter to Sánchez, obtained by The Telegraph, she commended the “swift resolution” of the incident and the prevention of 60,000 Moroccans from reaching mainland Europe.
Von der Leyen indicated her readiness to allocate EU funds or deploy units of Frontex, the bloc’s border service, to enhance the protection of Spain around its North African enclave. “Spain and its people can count on the Commission’s constant support and the strength of our union to overcome this current challenge,” she stated.
Source: The Telegraph
