Italy was divided following the approval this Wednesday in the European Parliament of the European Union’s (EU) new Pact on Migration and Asylum, with the government considering it the “best possible agreement” while the opposition and the far right expressed dissatisfaction.
The government led by Giorgia Meloni (far right) accepted the results of the vote, but its two vice-presidents and coalition partners Antonio Tajani of the conservative Forza Italia party and Matteo Salvini of the far-right League appeared divided.
For the European People’s Party’s Tajani, the text approved in Brussels was the “best possible agreement” and an “important step” towards resolving the Dublin Convention, which has been heavily criticized in Italy for establishing that the country of arrival of immigrants should govern the granting of asylum . .
Salvini’s League, a member of the far-right European group Identity and Democracy, classified the proposal as “a disappointing proposal that in no way solves the problem of illegal and clandestine flows and leaves Italy alone again.”
The government’s official position was expressed in writing by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, responsible for migration management and for whom this is also the best agreement that takes into account Italy’s priority demands.
“This will guarantee safer external borders, faster and more efficient asylum procedures, faster expulsions and greater solidarity with immigration destination countries,” he said, as quoted in the press release.
The prime minister has not yet spoken out, nor has her Brothers of Italy party, despite the issue being a critical one for Rome, which faces constant waves of migration across the central Mediterranean from the coasts of North Africa.
This Wednesday, the European Parliament approved the pact on migration and asylum, a complex legislative package that the European institutions gave the green light in December, but whether it would receive the approval of the European Parliament remained unknown until the last moment. moment, following criticism from many MEPs.
The new structure is based on solidarity, sharing of responsibilities and updated rules on criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for assessing an application for international protection.
Among other provisions, Member States will be able to choose between relocating asylum seekers on their territory, making financial contributions or providing operational and technical support to Member States under migration pressure.
MPs from the Five Star Movement (populists), Meloni’s second-largest opposition, described the new agreement as a “humiliating slap in the face” that would “condemn Italy as the receiving center of Europe.”
The main opposition in Italy, the Democratic Party (PD, center-left), explained that its MEPs affiliated with the Party of European Socialists voted against the agreement because it did not protect the rights of immigrants.
PD leader on migration policy Pierfrancesco Maiorino welcomed the “serious and consistent” behavior of PD MEPs in Brussels, as the Pact “insufficiently protects countries of first arrival, is dangerous for human rights and does not include channels for legal entry.” – he emphasized via the social network X.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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