Referring to the cooperation protocol signed yesterday, Monday, in Rome by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said today that “the agreement with Tirana respects all EU rules, unlike agreements signed by other countries”.

Meloni and Rama’s agreement to transfer and settle immigrants from Italy to Albania, at Albania’s expense, provoked strong reactions from the Albanian opposition.

The agreement, as reported by the Albanian media, foresees two large camps with a total capacity of 36,000 people in the northwestern Albanian coastal cities of Lezia and Sengini that will be operational next spring.

As the Italian Prime Minister stated, the camps will be under Italian jurisdiction and administration and there will be the registration and further management of the immigrants.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama justified the signing of the agreement as the fulfillment of Albania’s debt to Italy, which welcomed thousands of Albanian immigrants in the great exodus of Albanians after the fall of the communist regime in 1991.

“The agreement aims at the highest possible security”

Tajani underlined that “this agreement aims at the highest possible security and that those who do not respect the rules and do not have the right to enter Italy, can be escorted back to their countries of origin”.

At the same time, with more specific reference to the two closed centers, the head of Italian diplomacy added:

“They will only be able to go to these ports Italian military ships and not those of NGOswhile in these centers only people who are not minors or pregnant women will be able to be transported. This is an agreement that was written with full respect for EU rules, and I believe that this is a positive decision.”

What does the Meloni-Rama agreement provide?

According to the Italian press, this particular agreement will have five-year term, renewable for another five years.

At the same time, as regards the cost of managing and transporting irregular immigrants (which will be borne exclusively by Italy), for the first year it is estimated at 16.5 million euros. This amount should be paid to the Albanian authorities within the next quarter. According to the newspaper La Stampa, Italy will immediately deposit, as a guarantee to the Albanian state, 100 million euros.

Finally, as mentioned in the cooperation protocol, Italy will also cover all the costs related to the remuneration of the Albanian police officers who will undertake the external guarding of the two closed structures, as well as any costs for the structures that will involve personnel who work in other sectors of the Albanian public sector.