Migrants: EU Commissioner Brunner meets PM Meloni

The Pact on Migration and Asylum, European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said as he left the government building at the end of his meeting with Giorgia Meloni, “is a very good basis” but “it is not enough”. The commissioner added that he will present legislation on returns in the coming weeks.

“We are aligned on all the topics we discussed. It was a very good conversation, a good day today in Rome, with the foreign minister, the interior minister and now with President Meloni“. Asked whether he shared the Italian government’s line on safe countries, he replied: “We discussed all this. We have the Pact on Migration and Asylum, it is a very good basis, there is much to implement in Europe. I am very happy”, he added, “that Italy supports the pact and its implementation. But the pact is not enough. There are missing pieces: like repatriations, and we are working on a legislation on repatriations that I will present very soon, in the coming weeks. We are discussing this with the Italian representatives, because Italy is a very important partner for us when it comes to migration, the implementation of the Pact and new legislation like the one on returns”.

‘We also discussed a common approach on returns as a missing link in the Pact and explored new ideas for migration management,’ Brunner then posted on social media: “On internal security, we addressed emerging geopolitical and online threats, key elements of the strategy I will present in March”. And on X, he wrote: “Implementation of the Asylum and Migration Pact is a priority for this year: where possible, we will do things faster”.