The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, expressed this Friday her satisfaction with the position of the European Union (EU) on migration matters, despite the lack of agreement at the informal summit in Granada due to the opposition of Poland and Hungary, to the who said “understand.” .
“I am very satisfied with what is happening at the European level (…). Today we objectively have a European Council in which all 27 of us agree that the priority is to stop illegal immigration through external action,” he said. in statements to the media at the end of the conclave.
Meloni, prime minister of a coalition government that includes the extreme right and that is especially sensitive to this issue due to the intense migratory flow from Africa to Italy through the Mediterranean, assured that the strategy will have to be applied, in particular to “combat criminal drug networks”.
Meloni also defended the carrying out of “very important and complex work on the reasons for immigration in Africa”, through a “strategic partnership” that includes financial investments in the countries of origin and migratory transit.
“It does not imply making resources available to unblock immigration, but rather building strategic partnerships that, on the one hand, allow these countries to understand that the EU’s attitude has changed and to enrich themselves with investments,” he considered.
The Grenada summit ended without a final statement from the 27 member states on migration due to opposition from Poland and Hungary, whose governments are Meloni partners. Her formation Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia, Fdi), shares a European group with the Polish far-right Law and Justice (PiS, in power), and is a personal friend of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.
Orbán himself harshly criticized the EU, accusing it of “violating” and “forcing” Hungary and Poland to accept the recent agreements on the Migration and Asylum Pact, which Meloni defined as an enormous advance in the demands he made to the community bloc. .
The Italian Prime Minister said she understood “perfectly” the position of the two countries, which use their opposition to the Council’s final declaration as the “only instrument to make their voices heard”, although it “does not affect” the work carried out abroad.
“I understand it, as they understood the Italian position, because each nation puts its national interests first,” he said.
Meloni also met with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and assured that he received “support” from him for the agreements with Tunisia on the surveillance of its maritime borders, a pact highly criticized for the human rights situation on the African coast. .
Meloni also called for a review of the EU’s long-term budget to include a “significant amount” to manage and contain immigration.
Source: TSF
