Migrants, evidence of an agreement between Giorgia Meloni and Macron: frost with Germany

2023-09-30 00:02:19

On the topic of migrants and European management in Malta, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni goes, the distance between Italy and Germany is not reducing. On the contrary. But between Rome and Paris the climate seems to turn decidedly more serene. At the end of the Med9 with the European countries of the Mediterranean, the words of the Italian Prime Minister held the spotlight, who after having had a three-way meeting with the French President Emmanuel Macron and the number one of the EU Commission, Ursula von Der Leyen, returned to criticizing the German position.

But the words of great openness coming from the French president who espouses Rome’s line on the topic of “the management that is up to all of us” of migratory flows “giving solidarity to Italy” also weigh heavily.

Italy-Germany, confrontation on NGOs continues

With Berlin, the controversy over NGOs remains open. Behind the joke (“Germans should stop showing solidarity with other people’s borders”) Giorgia Meloni reiterates the difference in positions with Chancellor Scholz.

“I understand – he tells reporters – the German government, but if they want to go back on the rules of the NGOs, then we propose another amendment under which the country responsible for the reception of migrants who are transported on an NGO’s ship is that of the ship’s flag”. Regarding the stalemate on the European Pact on Migrants, recorded on Thursday in Brussels, the Italian Prime Minister maintains his point: “Everyone will take on their responsibilities”.

Meloni adds: “We have been very cooperative” in Europe and with the Germans “on the issue of the migration and asylum pact, we also voted for it because it improved conditions for us compared to the previous rules, then Germany arrived with some amendments, one in particular which for us represents a step backwards on the issue of non-governmental organisations”.

“Let’s see – he concludes – what the solution to this problem will be. We have our line, others have another, the problem is not to unload the line of one on the interests of the other”.

Macron and support for Italy

Macron has words of support for Italy: “We are living in an exceptional situation, especially the one that affected Lampedusa, and now there must be a single European response, we must all give solidarity to Italy and the first ports of call”.

Then, with respect to the trilateral held with the Italian Prime Minister and von der Leyen, he makes it known that an agreement is being sought to give content to Lampedusa’s ten points: “We have proposed to our colleagues to implement and implement these 10 points, I hope that at the European level we will be able to improve our internal functioning, to work together on the issue of immigration, improving the partnership with the countries of origin, and to concretely combat human traffickers”.

Words that follow what the Italian leader said shortly before, also on the request to extend the memorandum with Tunisia as a model for other countries such as Libya. “From our point of view I am happy with the convergence found – summarizes Meloni – it is time to address the problem of migratory flows in a concrete, structural and definitive way. We risk being the first nation to be overwhelmed, but then we would all end up like that” .

In the joint declaration at the end of Med9, however, “totally shared convergences” emerge with the other countries present at the Valletta summit. France, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia, Portugal and Malta make it known that a common line is needed on the flow management front, emphasis is then given by the host Robert Abela, prime minister of Valletta, to the “signing of the declaration of Malta, a real road map for an energy and green hub in the Mediterranean”.

The final statements

In the text with the final declarations approved by the ten-point group, some of the Italian positions are adopted, as stated in point 3 of the document. “We call on the co-legislators to intensify the negotiations on the Pact on Migration and Asylum to reach an agreement on all dossiers before the end of the current legislature. This agreement must provide the necessary guarantees that the needs of front-line countries will be adequately satisfied”, i.e. starting from Italy.

Also calling for “a renewed approach to effectively reduce primary movements and prevent departures” and “improve the rate of returns of rejected asylum seekers and other third-country nationals who do not have a legal right to remain in the Union”, finds its place in the Malta final document.

Hard line expected for smugglers: “Work must be intensified to strengthen the legal and operational aspects of external border surveillance, dismantle smuggling networks, interrupt the supply chain of criminal networks and prevent the departure of vessels that do not comply with standards international security measures, while continuing to promote safe, orderly and legal migration.”

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