Piantedosi will pitch a network of EU migrant hubs across Africa and beyond, as Italy’s suspension of Schengen with Spain over the Ceuta crisis continues to draw accusations of propaganda.
Italy will propose the creation of EU migrant hubs outside the bloc, modelled on its existing centres in Albania, at Tuesday’s emergency meeting of European interior ministers, following the arrival of thousands of migrants at Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta last week, sources have said, confirming earlier newspaper reports.
Schengen suspension draws criticism
Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government has suspended arrangements under the Schengen agreement allowing control-free movement across its border with Spain for a month, in response to the events in Ceuta. Madrid and Italy’s opposition parties have criticised the move as little more than propaganda, pointing out that entry to Ceuta does not automatically grant access to the wider Schengen area. Furthermore, that Italy does not even share a border with Spain. Most of the migrants who reached the enclave, many of whom swam around the border fence to get there, have since left.
A network of hubs beyond Europe’s borders
At Tuesday’s meeting, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi is expected to propose the creation of new hubs for the repatriation of irregular migrants, financed with European funds and located mostly in Africa, according to the sources.
A preliminary list of countries that could be involved has reportedly already been drawn up, including Rwanda, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Egypt, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Montenegro and Ethiopia.
Italy is also expected to push for strict implementation of the GSP+ programme, a system that links tariff benefits for developing countries to their cooperation in taking back citizens who are living irregularly within the EU. The programme was approved earlier this year and is due to take effect on 1st January 2027.
The proposal is an attempt by Rome to export the model it has already piloted domestically through its migrant processing centres in Albania, positioning it as a template for EU-wide migration policy rather than an Italy-specific arrangement.
