Italy wants to inspire Europe with its new model for processing asylum seekers. But it will not be able to be implemented in France, believes the Prime Minister, traveling to a Franco-Italian border post.
“I don’t believe that this idea can be transposed to France,” underlined Michel Barnier. But “we are going to cooperate even more with transit countries or countries of departure. This is what Italy is doing with the support of the European Union, with Libya or with Tunisia, and we will cooperate with these countries,” added the head of the French government. He also defended an “effective, dignified and firm” immigration policy.
Italian justice invalidates the device
Italy began implementing an agreement with Albania on Wednesday, aiming to outsource asylum requests. A dozen men from Egypt and Bangladesh have been taken to a camp in Albania, where they must await the outcome of their asylum applications.
But on Friday, an Italian court invalidated this system, which the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni presented as a model for Europe, in a context of all-out tightening of migration policies.
