Perspectives

On 6 November 2023 the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni stood with a big smile next to Edi Rama, the Albanian PM, to announce a new protocol between the two countries outsourcing the processing of asylum applicants across the Adriatic but still beyond the boundaries of the European Union. As reported, the arrangement will apply to people rescued at sea by the Italian authorities, who would then be disembarked on Albanian territory, at Shëngjin, around 75 km northwest of Tirana. Two closed reception centres are scheduled to be built there at Italian expense and managed exclusively by Italian civil servants. They will remain under Italian jurisdiction (thus creating an area of extraterritorial application of EU law) while external security will be provided by Albanian personnel. The centres are supposed to host up to 3000 at a time and over 36.000 persons annually, asylum applications processed in no more than 28 days at a time – rejected applicants will then be deported by the Albanian authorities. Pregnant women, children and other vulnerable people will be excluded from the scope of application of the agreement, which will become effective from 2024 onwards, after having been ratified by the Albanian Parliament. Albania “behaves as if it’s one” of the EU member States, suggested Meloni – the small problem being that it is not as yet. And therein lies the trouble… It was only last month when Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, wrote to EU leaders declaring that “The external aspects of migration are essential for the successful implementation of our policy”, and presenting 15 action points to boost the external dimension, such as reinforced search-and-rescue cooperation with the Maghreb countries, a pilot scheme for accelerating the registration of applicants and the mutual recognition of return decisions. A number of countries along the Eastern and Central Mediterranean migration routes: Tunisia Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Senegal and Mauritania are singled out in for further exchanges – albeit with so far unidentified or, as in the case of Tunisia, negative results. At the same time and in the absence of any discernible success on the EU level, several member States have made noises in the same direction. The outsourcing to Rwanda attempted by the United Kingdom, an ex-EU member, was put on hold by the European Court of Human Rights but it seems that Denmark, Austria and now Italy are drawn to similar solutions. In this number of Perspectives, we would like to explore the attraction of such partnerships with third countries, even in the face of apparent abject failure. We have invited two experts in the field, Angeliki Dimitriadi of ELIAMEP and Asli Selin Okyay of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, to review the effectiveness of the current policy initiatives as compared to our collective experience so far in the Eastern and the Central Mediterranean routes, respectively. Contrary to our avowed intention in this series to welcome different points of view, both our invitees seem to share the same queries and doubts and ultimately arrive at the same conclusions – which inevitably leads to the next question: are there any alternatives? To be continued…

Last week the Indian Prime Minister travelled to Greece; his visit was heralded as a historic milestone of goodwill and cooperation, a compass for the future. Over the long centuries of their historic association, Greece and India have always been aware of each other, but have never managed to create a strong and enduring cooperation on the basis of common goals and aspirations. We have invited two experts, one from each side, to put things into perspective and look ahead into the future. In doing so, we are launching a new series of “Perspectives / Επόψεις”, in which we will pose the same question and invite researchers and experts, both from within and outside ELIAMEP, to deliberate on it from their different viewpoints. In this first edition, it is only appropriate that the ELIAMEP should be represented by Professor Maria Gavouneli, its Director General. We have another first on the Indian side, as Ambassador Anil Trigunayat offers us his exceptional experience and insight, but also the first instalment in the long-awaited association between ELIAMEP and the Vivekananda International Foundation, India’s leading think-tank.