Premier Giorgia Meloni said in Cairo
Sunday "we aren't the PD" in dismissing opposition Democratic
Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein's claim that it was a "shame"
that Italy should be part of an allegedly failed EU policy of
trading development aid for stopping migrants after negotiating
with alleged authoritarian leaders like Egyptian President Abdel
fattah el-Sisi or Tunisia's Kais Saied.
"I read the Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein saying that
it is a shame that half of Europe is coming to Egypt to try to
stop irregular immigration," said Meloni after talking to Sisi
at an EU-Egypt summit that sealed a 7.4 billion euro deal.
"I understand that for them it is shameful, but if I had wanted
to put up the PD programme I would have run with the PD, instead
I ran against the PD precisely because I do not agree with
them".She went on: "I think it is instead a very important
signal that Europe has understood that if it wants to seriously
tackle the migration issue it must work on the external
dimension, that Africa plays in the current geopolitical context
an absolutely strategic role of which we have not been
adequately aware in the past, that there are other actors that
are moving and that are very effective, and that it is therefore
important that we manage to maintain our presence, our dialogue,
our ability to make an impact, otherwise we will only lose
ground, which I repeat, in the current geopolitical context in
which we find ourselves, does not seem to me to be a very
intelligent choice".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
