Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has traveled to Albania to thank its government for hosting thousands of asylum-seekers while Italy processes their claims.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni traveled to Albania on Wednesday to thank its government for its unique role in agreeing to host thousands of asylum-seekers while Italy processes their claims, and to tour migrant centers she said will be ready in August. Meloni denied her day trip was a campaign stop on the eve of the European Parliament election in which migration is a big issue, and blasted criticism of the visit as typical opposition maneuvering.
They are grateful to the government, they are grateful to the Albanian people for this important effort of friendship that they are making to give us a hand,' Meloni told a news conference. Albania is not a European Union member, and the idea of sending asylum seekers outside the bloc is controversial.
Meloni, accompanied by Interior Minister Matteo Piantendosi, kicked off her visit to the Western Balkan nation at Gjader, a former military airport 80 kilometers north of the capital, Tirana, where work for one of the two migrant centers has started. Meloni next visited the port of Shengjin, 20 kilometers southwest of Gjader, where a reception center with housing units and offices is set in an area covering 4,000 square meters and surrounded by a 5-meter high metal fence with barbed wire on top.
Rama, of Albania's left-wing governing Socialist Party, has said the deal is a sign of gratitude on behalf of Albanians who found refuge in Italy and 'escaped hell and imagined a better life' following the collapse of communism in the 1990s Albania. 'Italy has been helpful and served Albania many many times and if we have the possibility to be helpful to Italy ... let's exploit this opportunity,' said Rama.
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