Meloni: Italy will not give in to powerful elites who want open borders

Giorgia Meloni was fundamentally elected for one thing, and she is at it: to close the sieve that Italian borders have been for decades.

And she has just made it clear to parliamentarians that if anyone thinks she will waver on this, they can forget it: she will not give in to the political pressure exerted by the powerful elites in favor of open borders.

During question time in the Chamber, Meloni responded to questions about her coalition government’s handling of migratory pressure in the Mediterranean after the government revealed this week that more than 20,000 people have arrived in the country so far this year.

“As long as they continue to embark in bad boats, sailing in bad weather, there will be loss of life,” she told her parliamentary colleagues.

“We need to invest in legal avenues, and that is exactly the government’s job. Our conscience is clear. I hope whoever attacks the government but does not say a word about the smugglers can say the same,” she added.

Meloni strongly defended the country’s coast guard, the subject of considerable scrutiny by Italy’s left-wing press in the wake of the migrant boat tragedy in the Ionian Sea that cost several dozen lives.

The prime minister said she was astonished that “one ends up questioning the honorability and the work of people who risk their lives every day to save human lives, and the honor of Italy, for political motivations.”

Meloni stressed that “for several months we have witnessed a migratory pressure that has few precedents towards Europe and Italy”, and despite the ‘humanitarian’ lobbies of political opponents, she does not intend to give in “to the many and powerful pressures of those who would like a scenario without national borders”.

She reiterated his desire to “firmly combat illegal traffickers and regularly manage immigration” through a government decree and subsequent legislation.

However, she warned that Italy cannot be expected to handle the crisis alone and called for “a framework of responsibility that must also involve the other European states.”

With information from LGI

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