“If Tunisia collapses completely, there is a risk of a human catastrophe, with 900,000 refugees”. You said it – according to a senior European source – the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni taking the floor at the European Council. “Arrivals have tripled, in the summer the situation risks getting out of control,” she added. In the final conclusions, the heads of state and government agreed to update the argument at the June summit.
Giorgia Meloni, during the debate, according to what is learned from European sources, thanked the Commission for the work carried out on the impulse of the February European Council and for the letter following the Cutro tragedy. Meloni, it is still learned, highlighted how rapid and concrete actions are needed to avoid a situation in which criminal organizations control human trafficking on the Mediterranean routes. The prime minister also called for the strengthening of SAR activity and the progress of work on repatriations.
The Italian prime minister has long insisted that the Brussels summit immediately examine the immigration dossier. Hypothesis until yesterday received with a certain coldness by the European partners, more inclined to address the issue in the next summit on the agenda in June.
In the end, the heads of state and government of the European Union approved the conclusions on migration. “The presidency of the Council and the Commission briefed the European Council on progress in implementing its conclusions of 9 February 2023 on migration. Recalling that migration is a European challenge which requires a European response, the European Council calls for the rapid implementation of all agreed points. It will review implementation in June,” reads the closing statement.
“I will underline four topics, four challenges that we must face as a Union: accelerating towards climate neutrality, supporting Ukraine, strengthening our competitiveness, managing migration,” President Ursula von der Leyen wrote immediately after on Twitter. The president underlined the need to strengthen surveillance in the North African SAR zone.
Immediately after the summit, the expected bilateral agreement between Giorgia Meloni and the French president Emmanuel Macron got underway. This is the first face-to-face between the leaders of Italy and France.
(article being updated)