The government is banking on the EU Pact: “Far from being a boomerang, it protects us”

Almost a warning to the ‘Dublin critics’. Overwhelmed by the evolving immigration crisis, Meloni breaks her silence and strikes back: “Elly Schlein speaks of a ‘boomerang effect’ and an alleged failure by the government to manage migrants. But before engaging in propaganda, it would be useful to understand the difference between the issues being discussed,” she wrote on her social media accounts this morning. Thursday was a tense day for the government, given that Germany, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Austria (with the Netherlands joining them yesterday) announced their intention to send the so-called ‘Dublin cases’ back to Italy. In response to the opposition’s attacks, Meloni retorted that “Schengen and the Pact on Migration and Asylum are two completely different things and have nothing to do with one another”. She added that “the new rules offer much greater protection to countries of first entry regarding asylum claims and, with the strengthening of the ‘safe third country’ principle sought by Italy, it will be easier to carry out accelerated returns”. It is precisely on the concept of a ‘safe third country’ that the Italian government intends to press ahead. A couple of weeks ago, speaking with the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Meloni had expressed her intention to open, by 2027, a number of ‘return hubs’ for repatriations. The countries identified are Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana, and the model is expected to be based on the Albanian one. In fact, the Italian initiative runs parallel to a commitment the Danish government is pursuing with countries such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Greece to open a hub in Rwanda in 2027 capable of accommodating up to 10,000 people. The next key date to mark on the calendar to see whether there will be any progress is 4 September, when the government will be celebrating its record-breaking tenure in Bari. There, Meloni intends to place great emphasis on figures from the Ministry of the Interior which “prove us right regarding the increase in repatriations and the decline in arrivals”. She will also highlight the “80,000 requests for the reception of migrants that Italy has rejected”. Meanwhile, in an interview with the New York Times, the Prime Minister admits that “with Trump, I thought it would have been easier. Will I speak to him? We’ll see.” On 13 September, she will attend the meeting of the ‘Volenterosi’.

At Palazzo Chigi, the decisions taken by six European countries are not causing too much concern. Yesterday, Minister Piantedosi spoke of “fruitless controversies; as of today, there are only three Dublin cases”. This is also due to the fact that France and Spain do not wish to follow this principle of sending migrants back to their country of first entry. “Migration pressure must be managed using the European Union’s common instruments,” is Madrid’s line. This stance has brought the two governments closer together during the weeks of the Schengen suspension. Yesterday, as mentioned, the Netherlands also announced its intention to return ‘Dublin cases’ to Italy; however, the fact that there is ongoing dialogue – far from any rifts – is demonstrated by the fact that Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi met this week with the Dutch Minister for Asylum and Immigration, Bart van den Brink. Meloni, who was in Taranto yesterday for the opening of the Mediterranean Games, knows that between now and the coming weeks the issue will remain at the centre of the debate. When Parliament resumes its work, the Senate will also have to approve the Immigration Decree, which introduces some of the specific measures provided for in the Migration and Asylum Pact. And partly to escape the pressure from Vannacci – despite many analysts having advised the government in recent weeks to ‘focus on the economy’ – the Prime Minister intends to keep a close eye on the issue. How? First and foremost, by highlighting what she considers to be ‘results that are plain for all to see’ in the decline in arrivals and the increase in repatriations. According to the latest report from the Interior Ministry, from January to June the number of arrivals fell by 52 per cent, whilst repatriations – which reached 4,442 (still a marginal figure) – rose by 34 per cent. She intends to do so as early as the celebration marking the record for longevity, to be held in Bari on 4 September. But that’s not all. Many of the events on ‘Bar Italia’, FdI’s tour of Italian beaches featuring ministers and MPs, have focused precisely on the issues of security and immigration. The same applies to the ministers’ speeches at the Rimini Meeting (yesterday, Lollobrigida emphasised that Europe is ‘moving together for the first time’). Giovanni Donzelli has also raised the possibility of “opening CPR centres even where the regions are opposed”. Now comes the response regarding the “boomerang effect” and the “80,000 migrants who would have arrived in Italy had the Left been in government”. In short, Meloni and her team’s late-summer campaign is only just beginning.