Feijóo meets with Meloni and praises Italy’s immigration policy

The Diplomat The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, defended this Thursday in Rome the immigration policy of the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, and its "good results" compared to that of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. "You will remember that in April 2023 the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr. Sánchez, came to visit the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Mrs. Giorgia Meloni, and said verbatim that the Italian government and the Spanish government had aligned interests in immigration matters. What has happened since April 23 until now? That Italy has worked and has had good results to stop human trafficking and Spain has not worked and today it is the country with the greatest irregular migratory pressure in the European Union," Feijóo said in an appearance in Rome, at the Foreign Press Association, after meeting with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the Italian Vice President and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, within his tour to seek a "European alliance" against illegal immigration, Europa Press reports. In this sense, Feijóo stressed that the fight against irregular migration "is not an ideological issue", but a matter of State and that the main difference is not between parties, but but "between politicians who fulfil their obligations and are responsible, and irresponsible politicians who always blame others for what happens in their country." He also explained that there are "numerous" prime ministers in the European Union who agree on the diagnosis of migration. Asked about his interest in meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriákos Mitsotakis, or with Meloni, Feijóo explained that these are countries of arrival and that southern Europe must have a migration policy and seek a European alliance against irregular migration. "Therefore, I insist, this is not an ideological problem, it is a problem of State, this is a problem of responsibility and migration policy must be a matter of maximum relevance in the European Union, for all governments, without ideological labels and without excuses," he said. He also said that he supports a migration policy that is based on the combination of "firmness, legality, humanity and the unity of the countries in Europe." "In my country at the moment there is no migration policy and, unfortunately, the Canary Route is the route with the greatest pressure from irregular immigrants from the European Union," he lamented. Along these lines, the leader of the 'popular' stressed that the PP will continue to be "absolutely respectful" of regular migration, with people who come to the countries of the European Union to work "with a work contract" and "who accept the regulations and rules of the country in which they are going to work." He also indicated that they will be "forceful" when it comes to preventing mafias that traffic human beings from being able to use these people "to do business and encourage irregular migration." "And that is why - he stressed - I have been interested in learning about the proposals of Giorgia Meloni's government. For one reason, because in the last year in Italy the number of irregular immigrants has decreased by 60% and in my country it has increased by 60%. The migration policy in Italy works and in my country it does not." In any case, Feijóo did not discuss specific measures such as the centres that Italy plans to build in Albania to deport immigrants rescued at sea. He also did not discuss the six-year prison sentence that the Italian Prosecutor's Office is asking for the Vice President of the Italian Government, Matteo Salvini, for the 'Open Arms' case. Specifically, Salvini allegedly prevented the disembarkation in 2019 of the migrants who were on board the ship of the Spanish NGO.

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