The foreign policy followed, since she came to power two years ago, by the president of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni, has been dominated by one priority: the fight against irregular immigration. The theme was in all his speeches, in all his international meetings, even on the platform of the United Nations where he repeated, on Tuesday, September 24, his usual motto: the defense of “right not to emigrate”.
Its efforts focus on building economic partnerships, still in their early stages, with states on the African continent, but have mainly resulted in an increasingly pronounced outsourcing of European border control on the southern Mediterranean coast. And this despite the serious human rights violations committed there against immigrants wishing to reach Europe.
On this front, where Tunisia is its main partner, Mme Meloni achieved some success in the eyes of his electorate. Arrivals to Italian coasts have experienced a notable decrease. On September 25, there were 47,569 for the year 2024 compared to 133,098 for the same period in 2023, according to figures from the Italian Ministry of the Interior. Furthermore, according to data from Frontex, the European border guard agency, flows on the central Mediterranean migratory route have decreased by 61%.
The president of the Council was also able to use the migration issue as a lever of international influence for Italy. It has become essential for the file in Brussels and now configures its strategy as a model. It has also benefited from the strong and constant support of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on this issue. The far-right leader also received praise from the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer (Labor Party), who, on an official visit to Rome on September 16, greeted the “remarkable progress” of Italy in its fight against illegal entries.
Address the causes of migration flows
In the German Ministry of the Interior, headed by the social democrat Nancy Faeser, there is even talk of “Albanian model” Designate detention centers under Italian law that Rome is building in Albania to process asylum applications from certain immigrants. The issue of migration was also at the center of an interview between Mme Meloni and his German counterpart, Olaf Scholz, on Thursday, September 26, and both sides agreed to maintain a “close connection” on the topic “Looking ahead to the next European councils”. “In Europe, the internal dimension of migration, the distribution of immigrants, is a source of conflict. Approaching it from its external dimension, Giorgia Meloni can bring everyone to agreement and unite around her method.”, analyzes Matteo Villa, a specialist in the migration issue at the Istituto per gli studi di politica internazionale, a Milanese research center.
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