Italy’s Meloni vows to press on with Albania migrant camp scheme

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday vowed to relaunch a plan to detain migrants in Albania, a flagship initiative of her conservative government that has been blocked by judges.



Italy and Albania signed a protocol in 2023 to take migrants caught at sea to Albania and screen their asylum requests there, in the first such deal between a European Union country and one from outside the bloc.



The scheme stalled almost immediately, after Italian courts ordered migrants to be returned to Italy, citing issues with EU law.



The EU's top court in August also ruled against the Rome government in another blow to the plan, but Meloni is confident the Albanian camps will be operational from mid-2026 when new EU rules on immigration and asylum are due to come into force.