Meloni demands by letter to the EU the establishment of "legal immigration" quotas and aid at source

Appeals to "moral duty" to avoid tragedies like the one in Calabria

MADRID, 1 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, has demanded from the European Union a common approach on migration issues that, among other issues, allow each Member State to "freely" set quotas for "legal immigration" and promote aid at source, since that the recent shipwreck of a small boat off the coast of Calabria "is not an isolated case".

"It is our duty, moral rather than political, to do everything possible to prevent misfortunes like this from happening," he said, referring to a sinking that has left dozens of fatalities - the authorities have already recovered almost 70 bodies - .

Meloni has written to the presidents of the European Commission and Council, Ursula Von der Leyen and Charles Michel, respectively, as well as to the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, to urge them to relaunch a debate in which he has called not to fall into the "temptation" to agree only to "easy front solutions".

In this sense, he has indicated that "migration is a transcendental and complex phenomenon" and that, although it cannot be "cancelled", there would be room, according to Meloni, to combat human trafficking and that all flows be made taking into account account both for the well-being of migrants and for Europe's ability to grant them "a better life".

Far-right politics have called for distinguishing between the reception of refugees and economic migration, since "confusing" the two approaches harms "the most fragile and in need of help." For refugees, Meloni proposes aid and origin and also "legal and safe humanitarian corridors."

In the case of economic migration, the Italian Prime Minister is in favor of applying the system that is already applied to foreign workers, that is, according to "defined" needs. It is at this point that the leader of the Brothers of Italy sees room for "legal immigration quotas."

Meloni considers that in the extraordinary meeting of leaders in February there were steps "in the right direction", but "the time factor is decisive." For this reason, he sees it as "urgent" to adopt concrete measures and summons future European Councils to avoid new "duels" like the one this past weekend in the short term.