Georgia Meloni wants the EU to back the recent agreement with Tunisia with action. Photo: Getty Images/Valeria Ferraro
The European left is plotting to make mass illegal immigration «inevitable», the Italian prime minister has said, in the latest sign of deep divisions in the EU over migration.
Georgia Meloni blamed the Europeans leftists, including the EU's top diplomat, in undermining a deal with Tunisia to curb illegal crossings of the Mediterranean.
“The will of the European left is to make mass illegal immigration inevitable,” she said before a speech on migration at the UN General Assembly.
Ms Meloni will appeal to the international community for help on Wednesday evening in New York after more than 130,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy this year.
She told reporters she would not allow Italy to become «European refugee camp». She said the country and the tiny southern island of Lampedusa were under «unsustainable pressure.»
The EU promised millions of euros in aid, trade and investment in exchange for Tunisian authorities blocking boat departures. But no funds have yet been paid from Brussels, which Rome blames for the recent surge in landings due to a lack of Tunisian patrols.
“It is important that the memorandum with Tunisia is implemented,” Ms. Meloni. said. The Italian Prime Minister said it was a “model” that could form the basis of similar deals with other countries of migrant origin.
Ms Meloni attacked Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, after the Spanish socialist said member states had expressed «misunderstanding» over the rushed deal with Tunisia. Mr Borrell made these comments in a September letter to the European Commission.
“It is regrettable to see that part of the Italian and European political forces, for ideological reasons or, even worse, for political calculations, swear against and do everything to undo the work being done,” said Ms. Meloni.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was attacked by Ms Meloni after he spoke out against the EU's deal with Tunisia. Photo: Getty Images/Dursan Aydemir
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed the agreement in July along with Meloni and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
“Some member states expressed misunderstanding of the commission's unilateral action to conclude agreement and concerns about some of its provisions,” Mr. Borrell wrote about the deal.
«When the European Commission signs an agreement, that agreement must then be respected,» Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.
Ms von der Leyen traveled to Lampedusa on Sunday before unveiling a 10-point plan. including a naval mission to address the crisis. But in another sign of bitter divisions over migration within the bloc, Poland passed a resolution against an EU plan to resettle refugees from Italy to other EU countries.
Under the plan, EU countries accept a quota. asylum seekers or pay for everyone they reject.
“The whole of Europe, the whole EU, could become Lampedusa if we continue to make the same old mistakes, patterns and mechanisms that the Commission has proposed,” said Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen met Ms Meloni in Lampedusa on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images/Valeria Ferraro
Alongside elections in Poland, Poles will be asked in a referendum in October whether they support accepting thousands of illegal migrants from the Middle East. East and Africa under the forced resettlement mechanism imposed by European bureaucrats.»
Imogen Sudbury of the International Rescue Committee said it was time to recognize that «migration is a fact of life.»
Imogen Sudbury of the International Rescue Committee said it was time to recognize that “migration is a fact of life.”
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“Building walls or other barriers will not stop people from risking their lives for protection . While cooperation with non-EU countries on migration is important, turning Europe's neighbors into gatekeepers will not work — it will only push people into the hands of traffickers and redirect them onto more dangerous routes,” she said.
“The solution lies in a comprehensive system based on greater solidarity and shared responsibility, with a particular focus on relocating people from states on Europe's borders and opening safe routes to asylum.”
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