Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he was not concerned about an Albanian court suspending the ratification of the Italy-Albania migrant deal. The plan was to set up to two Italian-run centres in the Adriatic country.
There have been challenges to the process, which the court has to listen to before allowing the Albanian parliament to ratify the Italy-Albania migrant deal.
“I am not worried” Tajani told reporters on the sidelines of the EPP pre-summit meeting in Brussels.
“I think it is a legal issue that will be resolved fairly quickly, but it is not for us to comment on the decisions of the court of a candidate country to join the European Union”.
Why was the ratification of the Italy-Albania migrant deal suspended?
Albania’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday suspended the ratification by parliament of the recent deal between Prime Minister Edi Rama and Premier Giorgia Meloni. The agreement was to process up to 36,000 migrants a year at two Italian-run centres in the Adriatic country.
The high court was responding to two separate appeals, one from the Albanian Democratic Party, and the other from 28 MPs backing former centre-right premier Sali Berisha.
The appeals argue the deal breaches the Constitution and the international conventions Albania adheres to. The ratification is suspended until the court issues a sentence, for which it has three months.
EU leader says deal is ‘model’ agreement
According to EU sources, in a letter sent by von der Leyen to the 27 on the state of play on migration – as is the practice before summits – the agreement between Italy and Albania is described as “a model” to look at.
“We have also seen important initiatives promoted by Member States, such as the operational agreement between Italy and Albania,” the letter says, according to the sources.
“This is an example of thinking outside the box, based on a fair sharing of responsibilities with third countries in line with obligations under EU and international law,” von der Leyen reportedly says.
