Premier Giorgia Meloni said her government had kept its promise to the Italian people after it presented a bill on Wednesday with measures aimed at combatting illegal immigration, including powers that will make it possible for the authorities to impose a 'naval blockade" in certain situations.
"Today we were able to fulfil another commitment that we had made with the citizens in our centre-right government's programme, that is the possibility, in the case of a serious threat to public order or national security, such as the risk of terrorism, but also in that of exceptional migratory pressure, to prevent the crossing of Italian territorial waters and to take migrants who are on board those vessels subject to the ban to third countries," Meloni said in a video message released late on Wednesday after she arrived in Belgium to attend an informal EU summit at Alden Biesen Castle.
"It is an option that is compatible with the new European rules, which, among other things, Italy helped to define," Meloni added, referring to the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which comes into force in June.
Meloni also called on parliament to approve the bill rapidly
