Italy’s plan to build reception centers in Albania for migrants arriving by sea could become a model for agreements between the European Union and third countries, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni said in an interview published on Tuesday, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

Georgia Maloney with Albanian Prime Minister Edi RamaPhoto: Mondadori Portfolio / ddp USA / Profimedia Images

The deal, announced on Monday, is the first example of a non-EU country accepting migrants from an EU country and echoes the British government’s controversial attempt to send thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda.

It was launched by Georgia Maloney and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, and aims to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Italy by sea, which has risen by 65% ​​this year to more than 145,000.

“I think that (the agreement) can become a model of cooperation between the EU and non-EU countries in the management of migrant flows. I think this agreement shows a brave European spirit,” Meloni told Italian daily Il Messaggero.

She said that the EU executive had been informed and that she had no negative feedback on the initiative. The centers in Albania will initially house about 3,000 people when they open in spring 2024, Maloney said on Monday, adding that Rome hopes to increase their capacity to process 36,000 migrants a year.

However, Albania is careful to deport migrants back to Africa

In connection with this agreement, two Italian newspapers, Edi Rama, said that Italy was not the only EU country to offer such an agreement, but said that he accepted Rome’s offer as a sign of “gratitude”.

Italy welcomed large numbers of Albanians in the 1990s, and Rome is now one of the strongest supporters of Albania’s EU membership.

“We are friends and between friends you help each other,” Rama said.

The Albanian leader said the deal still needed to be put into practice and predicted that negotiating repatriation deals with African countries for rejected asylum seekers would be “the most difficult”.

In a statement to the daily newspaper La Stampa, he was skeptical about the impact of the deal. “It won’t solve anything, but she (Maloney) asked for our help and we offered it,” he said.