Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni remains confident, despite legal setbacks, that the deportation facilities in Albania, promoted by her right-wing government, will function as planned.
“It’s going exactly as I always told you: The centres in Albania will work,” Meloni told supporters at an event of her Brothers of Italy party in Rome on Sunday.
Meloni pointed to an agreement within the EU on a tougher stance on migration. The EU states recently agreed in Brussels to increase pressure on rejected asylum seekers and deport them more efficiently.
Return centres in countries outside the EU should also be possible in the future, including in Albania. However, the plans still need to be finally approved.
Several courts have stopped plans so far
The Italian government’s plan to return rejected asylum seekers on a large scale, even before they set foot on Italian soil, has not progressed at all so far.
The outsourcing of decisions on asylum applications to Albania has been prohibited by several court rulings from Italian and European authorities.
Meloni once again complained about “politicized judgements by the judiciary.” The project will only work “thanks to the judges” with a delay of one and a half years, said Meloni.
Facilities largely empty
Specifically, the project involves a reception centre opened at the end of 2024 in the Albanian port city of Shëngjin and the associated deportation camp in Gjadër.
So far, the facilities are largely empty. The costs are currently estimated at about €130 million per year ($152 million).
The Albania model is a prestige project of Meloni’s three-party coalition of far-right and conservative parties.