2023-10-05 23:57:24
The prime ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, and the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, have led a meeting organized by surprise on the margins of the European Political Community (EPC) summit and focused on migration, with the aim of forging new alliances to combat irregular flows involving transit and destination countries.
“We cannot allow criminal gangs to decide who reaches the shores of Europe,” proclaimed the British Prime Minister before even starting the CPE summit in Granada, in a statement in which he justified an appointment to the attended by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, the head of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, and the Prime Ministers of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, and of Albania, Edi Rama.
The British Prime Minister has alleged that the current situation is “immoral and unsustainable” and has indicated that the fight against “illegal migration”, just as it may be the response to the Russian “threat”, must be done with “unity”, since these are issues that “transcend national borders and require European-wide solutions.”
For his part, Meloni stated upon his arrival at the Granada Conference Center that the Italian proposal involves “stopping illegal flows”, since he considers that “it is the only way for everyone to agree in the EU.”
Thus, although she confirmed that Italy has supported the latest proposal up for debate in the EU – as it is “clearly better” than the previous ones – the Italian leader has insisted that the debate cannot revolve around “redistributing” migrants among the Twenty-seven.
In a press conference at the end of the day, Macron justified the holding of this meeting, stressing that the CPE is a “relevant” forum to carry it out, despite the fact that it was not on the official agenda.
The French president believes that there is room for new “synergies” between countries that live in very different contexts. “Cooperation allows us to reduce clandestine immigration,” stressed Macron, who is in favor of opening the door to new alliances that are not necessarily bilateral.
He does not even rule out expanding the format and assumes that the topic will come up at future summits, also taking into account that the next one will be organized by the United Kingdom, “in principle in the spring” of next year.
A battery of commitments emerged from the meeting, including cooperating to stop irregular immigration at the external borders, measures to “stop all boats involved in people trafficking”, a message the latter especially recurring in Sunak’s mouth. and Meloni.
They also believe it is necessary to “update the legal framework”, for example by equating the crimes attributable to these networks, and promote support programs to tackle the causes underlying migration, for example through preparation for climate disasters, development, education or job creation, European sources inform Europa Press.
Likewise, they want to open new “opportunities for humanitarian admission and relocation” to those who really have the right to asylum, as well as “legal” channels through which these people can travel to other countries without putting their lives at risk.
For those who do not have this right, it is necessary to “strengthen cooperation on return and readmission”, according to this list of commitments, which does not refer to specific countries or circumstances.
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