The heart of Starmer’s visit today is the agreement for the management of migrants landed in Italy from Albania, signed between the Prime Minister of Tirana Edi Rama and the Prime Minister of Tirana last November, with a view to giving reception on Albanian soil to asylum seekers received on Italian shores. The central issue on the table at the meeting will therefore be the migrant dossier, in order to outline a strategy for the management of migratory flows, which is also a crucial node for the government in London.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome. Between the chancelleries of Rome and London, despite the change of government across the Channel, in terms of migration policy a solid harmony seems to be maintained, which in the last year has been enriched by further moments of contact and collaboration also due to the Italian presidency of the G7. The focus of the meeting was Italy’s approach to immigration and the war in Ukraine. Another fundamental theme remains the economy: Italy is now the twelfth largest trading partner of the United Kingdom. This figure is slightly down on previous years. The two leaders could also discuss the eVisa fee requirement. Elected by a large majority last July, Starmer has promised to make the fight against illegal immigration one of his priorities. Starmer hopes to learn from Italy’s success in tackling the migrant crisis,’ writes the Telegraph newspaper, from which the British press’s appreciation of the Italian government’s success emerges. This year, in fact, we have witnessed a sudden drop in landings, a victory for the Meloni government, which has succeeded in combating irregular immigration. Viminale data show that the Italian government has reduced the arrivals of irregular migrants on the southern coasts by two thirds. The official figure is 44,495 arrivals, while there were 122,823 in the same period last year and 64,000 in the same period in 2022. This extraordinary result came about thanks to strict enforcement and international cooperation.
In the wake of Italian success, a new model for Great Britain
“No more tricks. This government will take on the gangs of traffickers who trade across borders the lives of men, women and children, Starmer had declared, according to a note released by Downing Street, before the meeting in Rome with Meloni focused on the control of illegal immigration with a discussion also on the agreement between Italy and Albania for the reception of asylum seekers.”
To learn ‘Italy’s approach to stopping irregular immigration’, focusing in particular on the ‘upstream work’ carried out by the Meloni government to reduce the flows from the countries of departure. This was the aim of Starmer’s visit to Rome. The British prime minister said he wanted to coordinate with Meloni, emphasising his desire ‘to work together on this vile trade of pushing people across borders’. The Italian government’s plan includes, in the context of managing the flows, solutions such as an agreement with Libya similar to the one the UK has made with France. But also controversial points, such as the requirement that NGO rescue ships pick up migrants from only one boat at a time.
At the end of the talks between the leaders – a note from Palazzo Chigi reads – a Joint Declaration was adopted that ”confirms the ambition of both Heads of Government to continue to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two nations in every area of common interest, with a particular focus on foreign policy, defence and security, to combat irregular immigration and strengthen cooperation in the fight against human trafficking.”
Starmer’s visit demonstrates an extremely solid collaboration between the Italian and British governments, which are working side by side “to seek long-term structured answers to the challenges of our time. President Meloni reiterated at the end of the meeting with British Prime Minister Starmer.
