Ceuta is an emergency, but for the Government of Giorgia Meloni it is also an opportunity: to accelerate the implementation of the new EU regulation on returns, pushing for the opening of “return hubs” for migrants in third countries as early as 2027. No longer Italy alone, as in Albania, but joining forces with other States rowing in the same direction, starting with Denmark, Austria, and the Netherlands.
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Today Piantedosi at the extraordinary summit
At the extraordinary videocall convened by the Irish presidency of the EU Council following the letter from 22 countries promoted last Saturday by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen (together they co-chair the informal migration group that meets before every European Council), the Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, will present the Italian position today. Already partly anticipated in the letter, by Meloni herself and yesterday by the Rome ambassador at the preparatory Coreper meeting. And based on the hard line at the European level: border control, fight against traffickers, more effective returns, timely implementation of the Chisinau Declaration to adapt the international legal framework to the challenges posed by modern irregular migration. That is, revising human rights conventions: a pet project of Meloni already launched last year from the podium of the UN assembly in New York. “The proper functioning of the Schengen area depends on the integrity of the external borders,” emphasized the Rome representative.
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The project of return centers in Africa
But there is another concrete goal that Meloni aims to achieve, as leaked from Palazzo Chigi: to proceed quickly, with the blessing of the EU Commission, to the launch of pilot projects for the establishment of return hubs in third countries. Like the centers born in Shëngjin and Gjadër thanks to the Italy-Albania protocol, but this time also co-managed by two or more States and funded with EU funds. Alongside Italy, Frederiksen, Austria, and the Netherlands are moving on the same wavelength. And they are looking at countries where very first negotiations have already started: from Rwanda to Uganda, up to Ghana. All accompanied by a sprint towards bilateral agreements and investments in countries of origin and transit modeled on the Mattei Plan, with the promise of tariff facilitations.
Horizon 2027, also with an anti-Vannacci angle
For the Italian Prime Minister, the ideal would be to inaugurate the first centers already in 2027, an election year. Also to claim the victory of the Italian line in Europe and to remove some arguments from the hands of the right-wing competitor, Roberto Vannacci. Who yesterday joined the request of other opposition parties for a briefing by the Prime Minister in the Chamber, but for opposite reasons. While the PD, M5S, Avs, and the centrists of Azione talk about “propaganda,” for the general the halt to Schengen is not enough: special forces should be deployed to guard the borders.
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