Meloni Says Italy’s Asylum Plan Could be European Model

(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s European partners have expressed interest in its deal to hold migrants in Albania and process their asylum requests there, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, as European Union nations try to curb an influx of undocumented arrivals.

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“I believe it could be a model to be replicated, if it works,” Meloni told reporters Friday after talks with Croatia’s Andrej Plenkovic in Zagreb. Meloni, who added that Italy has been a “pioneer” in the matter, did not specify the partners involved.

Rome is building two processing centers on Albanian territory, which could manage 3,000 border procedures in total. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the weekend that he was examining the deal closely.

The accord is part of Meloni’s wider plan to tackle a surge of arrivals to Italian shores, one of the biggest waves since 2016. Meloni previously floated the idea of creating such centers also in North Africa. Meloni has already asked the EU to help contain the emergency.

Read More: Scholz and Meloni Bury Political Differences to Tackle Migration

--With assistance from Alessandra Migliaccio.

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