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Opposites attract? On 16 September, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Giorgia Meloni in Rome. The Labour leader praised his far-right Italian counterpart's migration model, based among other things on relocating the management of asylum applications to Albania. Starmer thus confirms the recalibration of London's migration policy, initiated since his election in July 2024. The meeting has raised questions even within his own ranks, as Starmer was elected on the promise of offering an alternative to the policy pursued by his Conservative predecessor Rishi Sunak.
By unfortunate coincidence, the meeting took place just a day after another shipwreck in the English Channel, in which eight migrants lost their lives. At least 45 people have died since the beginning of 2024 attempting the crossing to the UK.
Almost simultaneously, this same Italian “migration model” is in court: the Palermo Prosecutor's Office has requested six years' imprisonment for Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini (Lega, far right). He is accused of kidnapping and negligence for preventing an Open Arms ship that rescued migrants shipwrecked in the Mediterranean from docking on the island of Lampedusa for 19 days in 2019. The verdict is expected in October.
A conversation with investigative reporters Stefano Valentino and Giorgio Michalopoulos, who have dissected the dark underbelly of green finance for Voxeurop and won several awards for their work.
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