In Europe, the Italian model is increasingly prevailing when it comes to immigration. More and more member states are siding with Giorgia Meloni’s government, which has created a new approach that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen already likes, and that other European countries are starting to like more and more. The latest to join the already long list of supporters is France. The very France that for years has made welcoming migrants its warhorse (at least in words, because in deeds it rejected migrants by force at Ventimiglia while criticising the blockades to NGOs in Italian ports). That time seems to be far away: now Paris, according to rumours in the Foglio, has unsheathed the sword in favour of Rome, supporting the plea that other countries have already drawn up in favour of the Italian government in the forthcoming ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on 25 February, requested by some Italian lawyers, pointing out an alleged discrepancy between European and Italian regulations on the issue of safe countries. A ruling that has the potential to unblock the procedures to transport migrants to the two repatriation centres built in Shengjin and Gjader, on the Albanian coast, according to that process of externalisation of borders against which the curiosity of half of Europe and the European Commission itself has already been aroused. As many as 15 countries forwarded a letter to the Brussels executive in which they asked the European Union to provide itself with stronger legislation on repatriation: the proposal was “the examination of potential cooperation with third countries on repatriation hub mechanisms, where returnees could be transferred pending their final removal”. Thus, ‘exploring potential models within the current EU acquis, as well as considering the possible need for amendments to the return directive‘. For her part, von der Leyen herself showed her curiosity towards the ‘innovative models’ devised by the Italian government.
Border Defence and Repatriation
The 25 February ruling therefore holds half of Europe in suspense, which is ready to propose new forms of flow management that have never been applied. Defence of borders and repatriation: this is the objective to which more and more countries aspire, even those that proposed themselves as defenders of a model of indiscriminate entry that is now, paradoxically, turning against them. “Twelve countries will present – we read in Il Foglio – a written statement in support of Italy, three others will do so orally. The push
to the policies of the Meloni government is the daughter of the letter of last May in which 14 member states wrote to the European Commission to ask for ”new measures to be added to the recently launched Pact on Migration, including hubs for repatriated persons in third countries”. Such as Albania’. But, ‘unlike that document – to which France had not adhered, as had Germany and Spain – this time there is Paris. In the company of the governments of Sofia, Prague, Copenhagen, Tallinn, Athens, Nicosia, Riga, Vilnius, La
Valletta, The Hague, Vienna, Warsaw, Bucharest, Helsinki. In other words: countries from the south, east and north, each with their own priorities in terms of managing migration flows‘. Add to this the fact that other countries are also looking for strategies to stop illegal landings and make their countries safer: Germany is proposing a very strong repatriation model after the frequent terrorist attacks in recent weeks, promising repatriations even to Afghanistan (other than safe countries). Pedro Sanchez, head of the socialist-driven Spanish government, went to Africa seeking a dialogue with African countries, precisely on the model of what Meloni did with Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, in order to block departures in African ports. Thus the Italian model wins, which politically pleases Europe and its states, no matter which political force governs them. All that is awaited is the ruling of the Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which at this point could only be a formality.
