Italy's Giorgia Meloni has become the country's new prime minister and is expected to focus on revising migration policies, after previously calling them lenient and arguing that they risk turning the nation into the "refugee camp of Europe."
Earlier this month, the politician from the far-right Fratelli d'Italia party, said during an interview that the smart approach is for migrants to come into the country according to her rules. The new prime minister's ideas, taken together, are expected to significantly tighten the doors to one of the European Union's front-line destinations for undocumented immigrants.
Immigration Policies
Meloni would be more constrained by Europe in other areas, such as spending and foreign policy. EU countries have plenty of leeways to handle their external borders and she has previously made it clear that stopping the flow of people across the Mediterranean is one of her top priorities.
However, efforts to block humanitarian rescue vessels from docking at Italian ports could have legal challenges. Furthermore, if the newly-installed prime minister tightens pathways to Italy, the volume of crossings would probably increase to other Mediterranean countries, including Spain, similar to what happened three years ago, as per the Washington Post.
The director of the Migration Policy Center at the European University Institute in Florence, Andrew Geddes, said, "You can do stuff relatively quickly [on migration] that is draconian, symbolic, and sends a clear message: We're here, we're doing something. But there's trouble in store."
He added that when crossings are stopped and then diverted elsewhere, a conflict is created with the EU. Geddes said that the situation would breathe life into an old conflict regarding migration policies.
According to BBC, Meloni presented two faces on the campaign trail this election with her signature hard-edged, far-right firebrand tones on one hand, and a more measured, conservative persona on the other.
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Italy's New Prime Minister
The prime minister hoped that it would attract a more mainstream vote and her gamble paid off with her election victory. Despite her win, millions of Italians who did not vote for her said that they do not recognize themselves in her nationalist, protectionist proposals and criticized Meloni's anti-immigration rhetoric and conservative family mores.
Brussels is thought to be generally concerned regarding Meloni's ardent nationalism as Italy is the bloc's third-largest economy and one of its founding members. The newly-installed Italian prime minister is a deep Eurosceptic at heart.
On the campaign trail, Meloni frequently spoke of Italy being downtrodden by the EU's bigger and more wealthy members. While she has steered clear of calling for her nation to leave the euro or the European Union altogether, she is more likely to team up with members seen by Brussels as "problematic," including Hungary and Poland, especially on migration policies.
The situation comes as 'The Brothers' of Italy party, which won the most votes in the country's national election, has its roots in the post-World War II neo-fascist Italian Social Movement. Meloni has successfully taken the party from a fringe far-right group to the largest party in the country, the Associated Press reported.
