Who is already campaigning on Lampedusa?
Continuous landings in Lampedusa: Meloni's maneuvers as he seeks support with the European Commission and Salvini's moves with Le Pen. Guiglia's notebook
The numbers explain the exasperation of the people of Lampedusa, who would also deserve the Nobel Prize for hospitality – if it existed – for how they have soothed the world's pain in the last thirty years. Almost twelve thousand migrants arrived in one week on the island of six thousand inhabitants. The numbers induced the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to fly to the last strip of Italy with the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen , because Lampedusa is Europe's first border.
VON DER LEYEN IN LAMPEDUSA, LE PEN IN PONTIDA
The visit, although necessary but not sufficient to address the unstoppable phenomenon of migrants from Africa, took place in the same hours in which elsewhere, in the deep North of Pontida, another alliance was being consummated with respect to the troubled Sicilian South, all grappling with immigration without borders: Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen have sealed the agreement for a Europe different from the current one led by Ursula, i.e. by a coalition based on popular and socialists.
Matteo and Marine launch the front of all the alternative forces to the left, also blamed for not knowing or wanting to manage the landings of those who dream of Europe. Therefore, a European version of the Italian centre-right.
But the radicalism of the French and especially German right is incompatible with the essential alliance with the People's Party. And perhaps also with the conservatives: this is why Meloni, who represents them, does not take a position and awaits the electoral verdict of the Europeans, June 2024, to understand if, how and with whom a coalition without socialists will be possible.
THE MAJOR MANEUVERS FOR THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS
The major maneuvers for the Strasbourg vote are underway. But in the meantime Lampedusa explodes and von der Leyen, who in turn hopes for re-election and would not disdain Meloni's support, announces for the first time: "We will decide who enters Europe, not the traffickers." Then he presents a 10-point plan to meet Italy's requests.
In turn, the Meloni government aims to block departures from Africa and to repatriate, rather than redistribute, migrants without the right to remain in the EU, i.e. the vast majority of illegal arrivals. The detention period will be extended up to 18 months in reactivated or newly established centers.
“A Copernican revolution”, the Prime Minister defines the announcement of the hard line on the burning issue. Elly Schlein argues (“Meloni made fun of the country”), but the mayors of the Democratic Party are calling for more rigorous measures on immigration. The bell of Lampedusa rings for everyone.
(Published in L'Arena di Verona, Il Giornale di Vicenza and Bresciaoggi)
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This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/migranti-lampedusa-campagna-elettorale/ on Wed, 20 Sep 2023 05:37:51 +0000.