Italy PM hails migrants deal with Albania as possible model for EU

Italy’s plan to build reception centres in Albania for migrants arriving by sea could be a blueprint for deals between the European Union and non-member countries, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in an interview published on Tuesday.
The agreement announced on Monday is the first example of a non-EU country accepting migrants on behalf of an EU nation. It has echoes of a controversial attempt by the British government to send thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda.
It was unveiled by Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, and aims to bring down migrant arrivals by sea in Italy, which are up by about 65% in the year to date to over 145,000.
She said the European Commission had been informed and had not given any negative feedback on the initiative.
The Albanian centres would initially host some 3,000 people when they open in spring 2024, Meloni said on Monday, noting Rome hoped to scale up their capacity to process 36,000 migrants a year.