This is a first obstacle for a very controversial migration agreement. The Italian government’s plan to relocate part of the asylum application to Albania has just been stopped on Wednesday December 13 by the Albanian Constitutional Court, which suspended its ratification.
1 min
With our regional correspondent, Louis Seiller
It is a victory for the Albanian opposition and human rights activists. On Wednesday, December 13, the judges of the Constitutional Court agreed to study the multiple appeals filed in recent days against this agreement.
The text, signed last month between the two Albanian and Italian governments, aims in particular to send and detain in Albania people rescued at sea by the Italian authorities.
According to opposition deputies, this project carried by the Italian far right in power violates the Albanian Constitution, as well as numerous international treaties. The loss of sovereignty caused by the creation on Albanian territory of detention centers managed by Italy would require the agreement of the Albanian president, and not simply a vote in Parliament.
These arguments were heard by the judges, and the agreement which was to be ratified on Thursday December 14 by the socialist majority is therefore suspended. The magistrates now have until the beginning of March 2024 to formulate a judgment. Criticized by the Council of Europe and numerous NGOs, this project provides for funding by Italy of two centers in northern Albania that can accommodate up to 3,000 migrants at a time, and up to 36 000 per year.
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