Minister Tajani is in Marina di Pietrasanta. He met with Forza Italia leaders, spoke to people who asked him about the wars, and shared the stage with Antonio Preziosi, Director of Tg2, who interviewed him about the government\u2019s work and everything else. And today, the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs will be focused on the Coreper (Committee of the permanent representatives of the governments of the member states to the European Union) meeting, at which the ambassadors of the EU member states are preparing for the emergency meeting of the Ministers of the Interior of the 27 EU countries, to be held tomorrow. \u201cWe need to develop,\u201d explains Tajani, \u201ca common strategy on immigration. The Italian government has called for this meeting, together with Denmark\u2019s Social Democratic government, to ensure that the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is implemented. In other words, repatriations must be carried out, and, furthermore, the possibilities for establishing new \u2018Albania-style\u2019 model centres in various African countries \u2013 and, more generally, in countries of origin and transit \u2013 must be assessed in practical terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
MELONI\u2019S STANCE<\/p>\n
On this issue, the Italian Meloni government\u2019s stance is gaining increasing support. This is also because the courts had suspended the hub\u2019s operations in Albania for a long time, but now, according to Tajani, things are running smoothly. \u201cThe Meloni government,\u201d Minister of Foreign Affairs insists, \u201cis putting forward its ideas, which are both rigorous and moderate, and by no means inhumane, even though left-wing propaganda is trying in vain to make them appear so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minister, you are being accused of ruthlessness, and the left is ready to take a stand against the African repatriation hubs. \u201cLet them do it,\u201d Tajani says, his tone hardening, \u201cbut the truly ruthless ones are those who promote the \u2018culture of the big hug\u2019, which in reality turns out to be the opposite of the do-goodism they so loudly proclaim, as evidenced by the people dying at sea, lured by empty promises of universal welcome.\u201d\u00a0Tajani does not want to further escalate the row with Spain. But note: \u201cMadrid\u2019s stance runs counter to the Italian one, which is supported by almost all the other countries. We strongly disagree with the S\u00e1nchez government\u2019s strategy of granting legal status to everyone and then citizenship. The \u2018come to Europe\u2019 policy is wrong, because Europe is not in a position to take in everyone indiscriminately. And it is a positive sign that the European Commission has sided with the Italian position rather than the Spanish one.\u201d Tajani refuses to accept this \u2018manipulation\u2019 \u2013 as he calls it \u2013 through which Italy, and \u2018responsible\u2019 countries like Italy, are portrayed as the epitome of cruelty and even racism. \u201cIt is unacceptable,\u201d says the Minister of Foreign Affairs, \u201cto refuse to see things as they really are and to engage in ideological manipulation that serves no purpose other than to stir up the masses. Italy has agreements with the countries through which migrants transit, agreements with the countries of origin, and the Mattei Plan to promote growth in African countries. We provide training for legal migrant workers in Italy. We have invested heavily in cooperation. That\u2019s how you make the policies we need, not by spouting slogans and making false promises.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE INSPECTIONS<\/p>\n
However, the suspension of the Schengen Agreement following the events in Ceuta seems to many to be an excessive measure. And it\u2019s a ploy to keep up with Vannacci. \u201cI really can\u2019t get my head round it,\u201d Tajani objects, \u201chow anyone could say things like that. We did the same with Slovenia a few years ago, and nobody was surprised by that suspension of the Schengen Agreement. This measure simply involves carrying out random checks on passports for four weeks for those arriving from Spain. I am astonished by the level of opposition propaganda being peddled on this issue. The worrying overall picture must also be borne in mind. Last week there was an Islamist attack in Germany; jihadism is on the rise across sub-Saharan Africa; and, meanwhile, there is intense pressure from the influx of migrants. Spain says that 73,000 of those who arrived in Ceuta have already been repatriated to Morocco. So the figures that had been circulating \u2013 namely that 40,000 people had entered the exclave \u2013 were incorrect. There were far more than that. And all this has resulted in dozens of deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n
HORMUZ<\/p>\n
In his remarks from Versilia, Tajani also turns his attention to the issue of war in Iran: \u201cNow is the decisive moment to reach a peace agreement and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Otherwise, the energy crisis will worsen, the price of gas, oil and fertilisers will rise even further, the markets will become unstable, and, in short, it is time to reach a lasting truce to allow shipping to resume.\u201d What can Italy do? \u201cLet us play our part, and Rome \u2013 following the summit on the Two-State Solution held a few days ago and with the talks between the Israelis and the Lebanese due to take place here from tomorrow until 6 August \u2013 has a crucial role to play. We are the Capital of Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there is no peace between the right and the left in Italy. Minister Tajani, are you prepared for strong opposition from the centre-left against the \u2018Albania-style\u2019 African hubs? \u201cUnfortunately, I expect there to be controversy and disagreements, but it is time to move past this attitude of saying \u2018no\u2019 to everything a regarding everything. It is the left that refuses to compromise and is constantly unwilling to engage in dialogue. As for repatriation hubs, they fail to understand that, as we are seeing in the case of Albania, they are a practical, balanced solution which, as it happens, has been approved by the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minister Tajani is in Marina di Pietrasanta. He met with Forza Italia leaders, spoke to people who asked him about the wars, and shared the stage with Antonio Preziosi, Director of Tg2, who interviewed him about the government\u2019s work and everything else. And today, the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs will be focused […]","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":201303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[6,28,404],"class_list":["post-201354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviste","tag-mediterraneo-e-medio-oriente","tag-ministro","tag-sicurezza"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201357,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201354\/revisions\/201357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}