THE UK HAS shown “great interest” in Italy’s migrant deal with Albania, Giorgia Meloni said, as Keir Starmer claimed his Government would make a return to “British pragmatism” on migration.
Italian premier Meloni also brushed aside humanitarian concerns about her country’s deal with Albania as “completely groundless”.
Migration was top of the agenda when the Prime Minister visited Rome on Monday to meet his counterpart as he seeks to reset relations with the UK’s nearest neighbours.
The Meloni government’s approach to border control has witnessed a 60% drop in arrivals by sea over the past year.
It has recently brokered a deal with Albania which will see irregular migrants who have entered Italy processed in the Balkan nation, a scheme which has been compared to the Rwanda plan Keir’s Government scrapped.
"Today was a return to British pragmatism."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 16, 2024
Sir Keir Starmer said he had discussed "the challenge of irregular migration" with the Italian prime minister. https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
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The meeting comes amid increased criticism of how Meloni’s government and her colleagues have handled migration.
Recent days have seen Italian prosecutors request a six-year prison sentence for Matteo Salvini, Meloni’s far-right deputy prime minister, for leaving 147 migrants at sea for weeks on a ship run by the Open Arms charity.
Salvini, a partner in Meloni’s coalition, is on trial for alleged deprivation of liberty and abuse of office after blocking them from disembarking at one of the country’s ports in 2019.
Meloni told a press conference in Rome that she and Keir had signed a joint communique including “very tangible, important points, and is evidence of the deep relation between our two countries”.
She said they had discussed the Albanian deal, under which asylum seekers will be held in the Balkan state while their claims are processed within Italian jurisdiction, adding: “The UK Government has shown great interest in this agreement.”
Meloni said they both want “to enhance this very good relationship between Italy and the UK”, and “increase co-operation with the EU while of course respecting the post-Brexit rules”.
The Prime Minister stopped short of explicitly endorsing the offshore processing scheme, which is expected to come into force later this year, insisting he was interested in Italy’s immigration policies more widely.
He later suggested Italy’s reduction in unauthorised migrant numbers was “more likely attributable to the work that the prime minister (Meloni) has done upstream” than in the nascent Albanian deal.
He added: “I have always made the argument that preventing people leaving their country in the first place is far better than trying to deal with those that have arrived in any of our countries. I was very interested in that.
“In a sense, today was a return – if you like – to British pragmatism.”
The Italian government has faced criticism from humanitarian groups about its deals with Albania, but Meloni told reporters in Rome: “I don’t know what human rights violations you’re referring to, to be totally frank.
She added that migrants sent to Albania would be dealt with under Italian jurisdiction.
The UK is expected to give some £4 million to an initiative called the Rome Process, an Italian government scheme to tackle the root causes of irregular migration, following the meeting of the two leaders.
In an effort to renew trade bonds, Italian companies are, meanwhile, set to make investments into the UK worth almost £500 million.
Defence, aerospace and security company Leonardo will invest £435 million in 2024 to be spent at their Yeovil site and in technology and research schemes across the UK, according to Downing Street, supporting 8,000 jobs.
Steel manufacturer Marcegaglia will invest £50 million in Sheffield to build a new clean steel electric arc furnace, creating 50 new jobs.
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