All Twenty-Seven agree that the priority is to stop illegal immigration from the external dimension. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is pleased to have brought the issue of migrants to the attention of the Granada summit. First with the discussion about drug traffickers promoted together with British Prime Minister Sunak, then with the debate that was created at various levels among leaders. The bitterness of not having seen the chapter on migrants approved in the Final Declaration remains. Poland and Hungary tried everything to include the principle that decisions on the matter must be adopted unanimously. An appeal contrary to the EU Treaty, which provides for a qualified majority in these cases and which no one listens to anymore. The trick to circumvent unanimity and avoid damage to the image was the approval of a declaration on behalf of the President of the European Council, which defines migration as “a European challenge that requires a European response”. This time, the focus shifts to irregular migration, which “must be addressed immediately and resolutely” and reiterates the concept that it is not traffickers who decide who enters the EU.
The Hungarian Orban also tried to increase the tone, accusing the EU of having violated them from a legal point of view, the Polish Morawiecki affirms his refusal to approve that paragraph and reassures his voters, who will go to the polls within a week, that they they will be safe under Pis rule. The split between the Visegrad couple aroused the disappointment of the host, Pedro Sánchez, who emphasizes that it was Italy who asked to “incorporate an item on the agenda” on migration, while “the Granada summit was convened first of all to talk about the agenda European strategy.” Meloni says he perfectly understands the reasons of Warsaw and Budapest, from their point of view. His “no”, explained the Prime Minister, is not against the Italian strategy on irregular flows and is linked to the fact that « by a majority of votes something was decided that previous Councils, they say, had established that should only be decided unanimously. Reasons that, however, also result from an old approach – says the Prime Minister – that is now outdated. That of redistribution and relocation, which is no longer a priority, and which can actually represent an attraction factor, a reminder and an attempt to “solve the problem at home by downloading it to someone else”.
The fight against traffickers therefore moves to the operational phase of the 8-point plan of Italy, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, Albania and the European Commission, but also new resources and completely different agreements with countries of origin and transit because, explains Meloni, “it is not about putting resources to block migration, but about building strategic partnerships”. The summit in the Andalusian city was also an opportunity for the Prime Minister to have a bilateral tete à tete with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in which the two underlined the need to find “agreements” with countries of origin and transit to encourage legal migrants. routes for skilled workers and, at the same time, “simplify procedures” for the repatriation of refugees who do not qualify for refugee status. The prime minister claims that the chancellor did not ask to make Tunisia an insecure country and that “he is aware that the strategy proposed by Italy is the only one that can be effective”. «With Meloni, in a very practical way, we agreed that we do not work against each other, but with each other», was Scholz’s comment.
Source: IL Tempo

Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.