News: What the Italy-Albania agreement on migrants provides for

The Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, and the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, have signed an agreement that will allow Italian vessels that will rescue asylum seekers in the Mediterranean to transfer them to Albanian territory. Italy will fund and have full jurisdiction over two shelter centres in the ports of Shengjin and Gjader, where refugees will be detained while the Italian authorities process asylum applications. The agreement provides for a maximum of 36,000 people detained during a year, while Italy will cover all the expenses related to the stay, which cannot go beyond the time allowed for the asylum procedure. At the end of the procedure, regardless of the outcome, Italy undertakes to facilitate the departure of migrants from Albanian territory.

The agreement has aroused doubts in both countries about the legality of the agreement and the lack of parliamentary consultation, while the European Commission, informed of the agreement, but not consulted, has remembered that every agreement must be signed "in full respect of European and international law".