The Albanian Constitutional Court has validated the agreement on migrants signed in November with Italy, which provides for collaboration in the management of people rescued in the Mediterranean Sea. Last December the Court announced that it would examine two appeals lodged against the agreement, temporarily suspending the ratification process that had already been started by the country’s parliament, and which can now continue.
The agreement in question was presented at the beginning of November by the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama, and provides for Albania to host two Italian centers for the management of migrants in its territory. Italy would bear all the costs related to the construction of the centers, the transport and accommodation of the migrants, also paying any medical expenses; the Italian authorities should be responsible for the interior of the facilities, while the Albanian authorities for security outside the centers and during the transfer of migrants. Many doubts had been raised about the agreement, relating both to logistical problems and to the constitutionality of some of its parts.
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The appeals examined by the Albanian Constitutional Court were presented by some members of the centre-right and opposition Democratic Party of Albania, according to which the agreement violates the country’s Constitution and international laws. The Court, however, established that the text “does not undermine the territorial authority of Albania”, and that therefore the ratification process can continue.
The ratification process of the agreement by parliament is also underway in Italy: the text is due on January 25th has been approved by the Chamber with 155 votes in favour, 115 against and two abstentions. He is now being examined Senate.
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