Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to push forward with her plan to deport irregular migrants to processing centers in Albania, despite legal roadblocks from national judges. Speaking on February 17, she insisted that her government has a mandate to curb migration and won’t back down.
Her right-wing administration set up two migrant facilities in Albania, but Italian courts have repeatedly intervened, ordering that those sent there be returned to Italy. Judges have raised concerns over whether the policy aligns with a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling, which prohibits deportations to countries that might not be entirely safe.
With the ECJ set to revisit the issue later this month, Meloni warned that the outcome could impact repatriation efforts across the EU, not just in Italy. “The hope is that the court won’t undermine these policies for all member states,” she told senior police officials.
The original ECJ ruling stated that a migrant cannot be deported if any part of their home country is deemed unsafe. Though the case didn’t directly involve Italy, judges in Rome argued that it casts doubt on Meloni’s plan to return rejected asylum seekers from Albania to their countries of origin.
Supporters of Meloni’s government accuse the judiciary of intentionally blocking one of her key policy initiatives, tying the issue to broader tensions over proposed judicial reforms—an allegation judges have denied.
Determined to press on, Meloni assured officials, “We will find a solution to every obstacle.” She stressed that citizens expect action against illegal immigration, citing concerns over security, integration challenges, and the rule of law.
