TIRANA: Albanian lawmakers on Thursday ratified a migration deal with Italy under which Rome will build processing centers for migrants that it will send on to its Balkan neighbor across the Adriatic Sea.
It is the first example of a non-European Union country accepting migrants on behalf of an EU nation, and is part of an EU-wide campaign to clamp down on irregular immigration that has fueled a rise in the popularity of the far right.
The accord has drawn comparisons with Britain’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda in East Africa as a deterrent to further migrant journeys in small boats across the Channel from France organized by human traffickers.
Seventy-seven deputies in the 140-seat parliament voted in favor of the deal, announced in November, under which Italy will open two camps in EU-candidate Albania, one of Europe’s poorest and least developed countries.
“Albania is standing together with Italy by choosing to act like an EU member state,” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama wrote on social media platform X following parliament’s vote.
“No country can solve such a challenge alone. Only a stronger, braver and more sovereign Europe loyal to itself can.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni replied on X, thanking Rama, Albania’s institutions and people “for their friendship and collaboration.”
One of the camps Italy plans to set up on the Albanian coast would screen sea migrants on arrival, and a second nearby would hold them while asylum applications are processed. Migrants would then either be allowed to enter Italy or be repatriated.
An Italian government source said Rome aimed to have the centers in Albania operational by this spring.
The deal has drawn international criticism from human rights advocates, and domestically from those who fear its impact on Albania’s security and on its financially vital tourist industry.
“This (tourist area) will not be the same again once the migrant processing centers are built,” said Arilda Lleshi, an activist who protested in front of parliament during the vote.
“We have reasons to believe that these (migrant centers) will be a security problem for the whole area.”
The agreement was challenged before Albania’s Constitutional Court by the main opposition Democratic Party, which argued that it broke the constitution by ceding sovereignty over Albanian soil to another country.
The Constitutional Court rejected the claims and gave a green light last month. While UN officials have criticized the Italy-Albania deal, the European Commission has said it does not appear to breach EU law as it falls outside its jurisdiction.
Rights experts warn it might be hard for Italian courts to promptly process asylum requests or appeals against detention orders from people hosted in another country, and lengthy procedures could put an unjustified burden on migrants.
Albanian parliament ratifies migration centers deal with Italy
https://arab.news/69z3t
Albanian parliament ratifies migration centers deal with Italy
- First example of a non-European Union country accepting migrants on behalf of an EU nation
- Accord has drawn comparisons with Britain’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda
Belgian court throws out Covid vaccine case against EU chief
- The Liege appeals court “declared inadmissible” a set of complaints brought in 2023 by Belgian former lobbyist Frederic Baldan
- The court “found the complainants wrong across the board,” von der Leyen’s lawyer Adrien Masset said
BRUSSELS: A Belgian court dismissed a lawsuit against EU chief Ursula von der Leyen centered on text messages she exchanged with the head of vaccine maker Pfizer during negotiations for Covid jabs, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
Another source close to the case confirmed to AFP that the Liege appeals court “declared inadmissible” a set of complaints brought in 2023 by Belgian former lobbyist Frederic Baldan, as he could not prove suffering “personal harm.”
The court “found the complainants wrong across the board,” von der Leyen’s lawyer Adrien Masset told AFP.
The EU moved swiftly after the Covid pandemic emerged in 2020 to secure vaccines for member countries to buy for their citizens and residents, at a time of massive global demand for the shots.
But many aspects of the procurement from key supplier Pfizer have been kept confidential, leading to claims of a lack of transparency — and several legal proceedings.
Last year Baldan, who argued that von der Leyen both overstepped her role and violated the commission’s code of conduct, lost a similar lawsuit in Brussels.
Another complaint filed by The New York Times against the commission for failing to release the texts despite a freedom of information request is being heard by the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union.
Various anti-vaccine groups and personalities, as well as Hungary and Poland, had joined Baldan’s Liege case, which contested the ability of the EU prosecutor’s office (EPPO) to effectively investigate the matter.
The EPPO, an independent body fighting fraud involving EU funds, opened a still-ongoing probe into vaccine purchases in 2022.
“The EU has now become an area of non-freedom, insecurity and injustice,” Baldan said of his latest court defeat.
The commission does not dispute that the text messages existed but says they did not constitute part of the vaccine negotiation — and are no longer available.
Russia blasts US reinstatement of Cuba on terror list
- Trump on Monday reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism
- The move is unjustified because Cuba is an active participant in “international cooperation on counter-terrorism,” Zakharova said
MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday slammed US President Donald Trump for reinstating its ally Cuba on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying the measure was aimed at destabilising the island and prompting regime change.
Trump on Monday reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the newly-inaugurated Trump’s order was undoubtedly “aimed at further tightening financial and economic restrictions in the hopes of destabilising the situation and changing power in Cuba.”
The move is unjustified because Cuba is an active participant in “international cooperation on counterterrorism,” Zakharova said.
The US must realize such measures “have an extremely negative influence on the quality of life of the island’s population,” she added, suggesting it was aiming to provoke “social discontent.”
Russia will continue to provide “necessary support to Cuba” to back its demands for an “immediate and complete end” to the “illegal and inhumane” US blockade of the island, Zakharova said.
Russia and Cuba have strengthened ties since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visiting last year.
Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland
- “Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump said
- Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech
COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s foreign minister said Tuesday that no country should be able to simply help themselves to another country, following US President Donald Trump’s renewed remarks about taking control of Greenland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, set off alarm bells in early January by refusing to rule out military intervention to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland — which is an autonomous Danish territory — under US control.
“Of course we can’t have a world order where countries, if they’re big enough, no matter what they’re called, can just help themselves to what they want,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday.
While he didn’t mention Greenland in his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump was asked about it by reporters in the Oval Office afterwards.
“Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump responded.
“I’m sure that Denmark will come along — it’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” he added.
Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech, but added that the “rhetoric” was the same.
“It doesn’t make me call off any crisis, because he said other things about expanding the American territory,” Lokke told Danish media.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has insisted “that Greenland is not for sale” but that the territory was open to doing business with the US.
Among Danes, the omission of Greenland in the inauguration speech led to some relief.
“He didn’t mention Greenland or Denmark in his speech last night, so I think there’s room for diplomacy,” 68-year-old actor Donald Andersen told AFP.
On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a post to Instagram that Europe would need to “navigate a new reality.”
While noting the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination, the head of government also stressed the need for Denmark to maintain its alliance with the US — which she described as Denmark’s most important since World War II.
A number of Danish party leaders were called to the prime minister’s office on Tuesday to be briefed on the situation.
“We have to recognize that the next four years will be difficult years,” Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Green Left, told reporters after meeting with Frederiksen.
Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting
- “The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelensky said
- Trump has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how
DAVOS: Ukraine is working to set up a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, Zelensky said on Tuesday.
“The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelensky said of efforts to arrange a meeting with Trump.
He was speaking in an interview panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how.
Zelensky said Ukraine would not agree to Russian demands that it drastically reduce the size of its military, predicting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would demand Ukraine cut its military to a fifth its size.
“This is what he wants. We will not allow this to happen,” Zelensky said.
In his speech, Zelensky suggested Europe had less influence over Washington because the United States viewed its allies’ contribution to security as lacking.
“Does anyone in the United States worry that Europe might abandon them someday – might stop being their ally? The answer is no,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos
- Zelensky said Europe needed to be ready to stand on its own feet and must work to remain relevant as a “strong global” player
- “Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for itself“
DAVOS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Europe should develop a joint defense policy and be willing to increase spending to guarantee its own security from emerging threats.
His comments to the World Economic Forum in Davos came a day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has demanded NATO members raise their defense spending and boasted he can end the war in Ukraine, without offering a clear roadmap.
Zelensky said Europe needed to be ready to stand on its own feet and must work to remain relevant as a “strong global” player and “indispensable” on the global stage.
“We need a united European security and defense policy, and all European countries must be willing to spend as much on security as is truly needed,” Zelensky argued in his address to the WEF.
“Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for itself,” he added.
He evoked the Kremlin’s deployment of North Korean troops to western Russia to illustrate what he said were growing threats to European security.
“European leaders should remember this — battles involving North Korean soldiers are now happening in places geographically closer to Davos than to Pyongyang,” he said.
And he pointed to a recent pact between Russia and Iran boosting their economic and military cooperation, saying the accord was an example of a changing landscape that was a threat to Europe.
“Whom do they make such deals against? Against you, against all of us,” he said. “Such threats can only be countered together,” he added.
Zelensky also questioned whether Trump was committed to NATO and European security, claiming that Washington has openly indicated their security priorities lie in the Middle East and in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Will President Trump even notice Europe? Does he see NATO as necessary? And will he respect EU institutions?” Zelensky asked.
