Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, visited Italy’s island of Lampedusa on Sunday after Giorgia Meloni’s called for extraordinary measures to curb a surge in migrants from northern Africa.
Von der Leyen acknowledged that the influx is a Europe-wide problem, and pledged to address it in a 10-point action plan, including support for managing the inflow and transfer of migrants, as well as stopping smugglers by bolstering air and sea surveillance.
“I want to be very clear: we have an obligation as part of the international community,” von der Leyen, president of the EU’s executive arm, said at a joint press conference. She and Meloni were “here today to offer a coordinated response by the Italian and European authorities,” she added.
European Council President Charles Michel said that the issue will be discussed at an informal summit in Granada next month, according to a posting on X, the company formerly known as Twitter.
Italy wants to stem the flow of migrants by enlisting the help of other EU nations as well as those in North Africa that serve as a departure point for people crossing the Mediterranean. Tunisia and the EU signed an agreement aimed at building cooperation on migration policy in July, which Meloni followed with an international conference on development and migration in Rome.
The problem cannot be solved by Italy alone, Meloni said at the press conference, and warned of wider repercussions that “would soon involve all of the European states” unless bolder measures are taken.
Since the beginning of the year more than 106,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by boat after crossing the Mediterranean, more than double the 53,000 arrivals recorded in the same period last year, government data shows.
While Meloni welcomed von der Leyen, her ally Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, plays host to French far-right Marine Le Pen at a League party event on Sunday in an effort to boost their alliance ahead of the EU vote next year.
Aside from immigration, where the EU has shown support for Italy, relations between Rome and Brussels are being tested by Meloni’s plans to finance her upcoming budget.
Meloni has blasted a delay in the approval of a stake sale of state-owned ITA Airways to Deutsche Lufthansa AG, and the European Central Bank has criticized a plan by Rome to tax banks’ windfall profits.
--With assistance from Chiara Albanese.
(Updates with Michel comments starting in fourth paragraph.)
