(Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will convene an informal meeting of leaders on the sidelines of this week’s European Union summit to push for tougher migration measures as rifts in the bloc over the issue widened.
The premier will co-host the gathering with her Dutch and Danish counterparts Thursday in Brussels to secure backing for more stringent action. The meeting will seek “innovative solutions” to unregulated migration as EU leaders expect a long debate on Thursday, according to officials familiar with the preparations.
The meeting coincides with an Italian naval vessel delivering the first group of migrants to Albania this week as part of a controversial deal to process asylum claims in the Balkan nation. The premier has said the arrangement, which has been attacked by humanitarian organizations, could become a blueprint for other EU governments.
“We intend to work to consolidate this approach, both at national and European level,” Meloni told lawmakers in Rome on Tuesday, referring to a legislative package that seeks to crack down on irregular migration to Italy by targeting organized crime groups and stricter inspection procedures. The informal meeting in Brussels was first reported by the Financial Times.
The EU divisions were laid bare this week as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who will also attend the informal gathering, abruptly announced the suspension of asylum rights, a move that drew a rebuke from his coalition partners. Last month, Germany announced it would impose border controls until stricter EU migration rules take effect.
In a sign that actions once dismissed are gaining traction, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen cited the Italy-Albania deal as a potential option to help stem unregulated migration into the bloc.
Drawing Lessons
Member states should explore the establishment of “return hubs outside the EU,” von der Leyen wrote to leaders Monday. Calls to move such procedures outside member states’ territories have been pilloried by rights groups such as Amnesty International.
“With the start of operations of the Italy-Albania protocol, we will also be able to draw lessons from this experience in practice,” the commission president wrote in a letter.
The topic has become one of the most polarizing issues in the region, dividing governments and giving rise to far-right parties that have advocated border closures and mass deportations. EU governments have struggled to find a common line that balances an effort to curb irregular influxes with protecting the rights of asylum seekers.
Germany wants to focus on internal migration by stabilizing current rules that require countries on the external border to process asylum claims, people familiar with the discussion said. Larger member states aim to accelerate new migration and asylum rules, while some capitals are seeking more concrete proposals to speed up the return of migrants, the people said on condition of anonymity.
Asked about Tusk’s unilateral move, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock acknowledged that Poland was responding to Russian “hybrid warfare” — including a disruptive effort to send migrants across the border — while also calling for an EU-wide approach.
“It’s very important on the migration issue that we as Europeans work together and pull in the same direction,” Baerbock said in Berlin on Tuesday. Failure risks leaving the issue to “populists, who target people in disparaging, generalized terms.”
Tusk’s announcement on Saturday triggered criticism from within his governing coalition. Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia, who leads the centrist Poland 2050 party, said he wasn’t consulted on the plan, adding that the right to asylum is “sacred.”
--With assistance from Michael Nienaber and Natalia Ojewska.
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