“Absurd”, “inhumane”, “too expensive”, “violates human rights”, “weakens national sovereignty”. These are some of the criticisms that have fallen on the Italy-Albania agreement from Strasbourg, where MEPs are gathered for the plenary of the European Parliament. The reactions come after the decision of the immigration section of the Rome court, which did not validate the detention of migrants inside the Italian detention center for the repatriation of Gjader, relating to the 16 migrants transported to Albania by the Libra ship of the Italian Navy .
If the “Albania model” arouses applause in the right hemisphere of the Assembly, harsh criticism has come from liberals, socialists and the radical left. The migrant centers wanted by Giorgia Meloni, authorized by the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and blessed by the President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen, in addition to raising legal and humanitarian concerns, are putting the “official” majority that leads the Eurochamber, the one composed of popular, socialists and liberals.
It is a majority that shows deep cracks regarding migrants. After approving the pact on migrants last May, the “Albania model” and the external hubs on repatriations raise the bar even further, further strengthening the so-called “Fortress Europe”. On these issues, the European People’s Party goes hand in hand with the ultra-right of Meloni’s Conservatives and reformists and in some ways also with the Patriots for Europe, the group of Hungarian Viktor Orban, von der Leyen’s bitter enemy.
Socialists against the “Albania model”
The issue is thorny first and foremost for the socialists (S&D), to which the Democratic Party belongs, given that they govern alongside the German leader. “Any proposal to outsource the asylum and repatriation policy is in direct violation of international law, and this was confirmed in the ruling of the judges in Rome against the Italy-Albania protocol, which we have been opposing for some time,” he declared at the conference print Iratxe Garcia Perez, president of the S&D group in the European Parliament. “We have always been strongly against the outsourcing of migration management, it goes against the European strategy. We are very concerned that President von der Leyen wants to adopt and generalize these measures throughout the European Union. We want to clarify once again who cannot count on our support,” added Garcia Perez.
The shadow majority of the right
The socialists insist on “defending the need in Europe to form an alliance of pro-Europeans”, which includes popular, socialists, liberals and greens. “We continue to defend this alliance, we extend our hand to the People’s Party to prevent it from playing a double game, double majorities, while also looking elsewhere”, underlined the Spanish MEP. Yet the double track appears to be already underway. Four groups had asked to include the debate on the “Albania model” on the agenda of October 22, but the proposal was rejected. Thanks to whom? Popolari (Forza Italia), Ecr (Fratelli d’Italia), Patriots for Europe (Lega) and Europe of Sovereign Nations blocked and rejected the requests. Right-wingers therefore united to avoid the debate, from the moderates of the EPP to the Patriots. A “shadow majority” therefore, compact on some issues such as migration.
The Liberals insist on the Pact on Migrants
The liberals of Renew also criticized the “Albania model, especially on the financial level. “The stay of immigrants in Albania, which should last 48 hours, is a waste of public funds. Twelve migrants in Albania cost the Italians 65 million euros”, said group leader Valerie Hayer. “This is demagogy, Europe and migrants deserve more”, added Hayer, a member of the Macronist Renaissance party, reiterating the need to apply instead the content of the asylum and migration pact, approved only a few months ago “The pact does not make big headlines in the press but will last more than 48 hours”, commented Hayer.
The plan to send migrants back out of the EU (which is popular from left to right)
“We oppose the ‘Albania model’ as a group because it costs a lot. Furthermore, we cannot outsource our sovereignty to third countries, which risk not reflecting our values”, he underlined. French politics has also expressed itself on the issue of “safe countries”, to which to send people whose asylum requests have been rejected and which Rome has proposed to expand. “We should stick to the list already approved by the EU. The Renew group thinks that among the priorities is the total implementation of the asylum and migration pact. I underline total, because some countries would like to avoid it”, declared Hayer.
The Left also criticizes the Migration Pact
The most radical criticism regarding the “Albania model” in Europe comes from the group The Left, to which the Five Star Movement adheres. “The agreement between Italy and Albania is absurd, inhumane, whose sole objective is to outsource asylum requests. Our fear is that it will be taken up again by the Commission, given that von der Leyen did not rule it out,” accused Manon Aubry of La France Insoumise. The French MEP also raised the political issue behind the “Albania model”. “Von der Leyen’s new announcement is to favor the expulsion of migrants and this obsession is tempting the right and the far right”, declared Aubry, underlining the EPP’s increasingly rightward shift.
“Every time a cultural victory is lost to the right, it becomes a scorched earth. First more border controls are put in place, then closed centers are created, then centers for migrants are created in non-EU countries. What will be the next step? “, reported the European parliamentarian, highlighting the increasingly restrictive path towards migrants and asylum seekers. Finally, a message to the European socialists, who are part of the von der Leyen majority.” There is an ambiguity on the part of the socialists, who supported the asylum and immigration pact, which does nothing but further criminalize migrants, putting barbed on their lives. We ask the socialists: do you want to continue playing into the hands of the far right or do you want to collaborate with us?”, concluded Aubry.