Italy PM plans new law to support migrant deal with Albania

Accusing judges of political bias, Italy’s hard-right government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will introduce a new law to circumvent legal challenges to its migrant deal with Albania.

The law defines 22 countries as “safe,” enabling fast-tracked asylum applications from these nations and supporting Italy’s migrant processing centers in Albania.

A recent court ruling forced Italy to take back 12 migrants sent to Albania, but Meloni’s government claims other EU countries are interested in this policy for processing asylum requests outside the bloc.

The judges pointed to a recent European Court of Justice ruling which stipulates that EU states can only designate whole countries as safe, not parts. Some nations on Italy’s list include areas which are not considered safe.

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As a general rule, EU law takes precedence over conflicting national laws.

Meloni on Friday slammed the ruling as “prejudiced” and said she had called a cabinet meeting Monday “to approve laws to overcome this obstacle, because I don’t think it’s up to the judges to say which countries are safe, but the government.”

‘Dangerous’

The cabinet decree would enter into force immediately, before being made law by parliament, where the government has a majority.

The law is expected to state that all parts of the 22 countries designed safe are safe for all categories of people, disregarding caveats in the government’s current directives.

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Immigration lawyer Guido Savio told AFP the abrupt change would likely lead to new legal challenges.

Italy has long been on the front line of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe and Meloni was elected in 2022 on a pledge to stop the boats.

Her coalition has previously clashed with judges over attempts to limit the work done by charity organisations who rescue migrants at sea.

The row escalated Sunday, with Meloni publishing excerpts on social media of a letter sent by one prosecutor to a group which includes judges.

In it, Marco Patarnello warned that Meloni is “stronger and much more dangerous” than former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who faced frequent legal woes and who repeatedly attacked the judiciary.

Right-wing politicians said the letter proved the legal bias against the government.

Critics pointed out however that Meloni did not post the rest of the text, in which Patarnello said “we must not engage in political opposition, but we must defend jurisdiction and the citizens’ right to an independent judge”.

Across the European Union, individual member states are responsible for drawing up their own ‘safe’ country lists. However, the EU intends eventually to agree a bloc-wide list, officials say.

With inputs from agencies.