Milan, 12 Aug. (LaPresse) – By suspending Schengen following the Ceuta crisis, “Meloni has once again acted as a party leader, just like any old Abascal, rather than as Italy’s prime minister, and has set a very serious precedent that could cost the country dearly”. This was stated by the leader of the Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte, in an interview with *Il Fatto Quotidiano*. “It is not a matter of retaliation, but by relying on propaganda and suspending Schengen, Meloni has legitimised the fact that in future, faced with a migration crisis on our territory, other EU states may in turn suspend Schengen and leave us isolated,” explains Conte. “As far back as June 2018, at my first European Council meeting, we achieved a breakthrough: it was recognised that anyone who lands in Italy lands in Europe. It wasn’t easy; I forced my colleagues to stay in the meeting until dawn,” recalls the former prime minister, “there has never been a single instance where, in the face of arrivals, after going round the various ministries, I did not secure a concrete redistribution of migrants. A solidarity mechanism was introduced, and in 2019 we even reached an agreement with Malta, France, Germany and Finland. We established a principle of automatic relocation of asylum seekers, with a rotation of safe ports. All of this has been lost, drowned out by Meloni’s propaganda: having claimed great successes for years, she cannot now even fight for a more efficient mechanism; it would be like dropping the mask.”
Migrants, Conte: “Meloni is isolating us; my work in the EU has been wasted”
Milan, 12 Aug. (LaPresse) – By suspending Schengen following the Ceuta crisis, “Meloni has once again acted as a party leader, just like any old Abascal, rather than as Italy’s prime minister, and has set a very serious precedent that could cost the country dearly”. This was stated by the leader of the Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte, in an interview with *Il Fatto Quotidiano*. “It is not a matter of retaliation, but by relying on propaganda and suspending Schengen, Meloni has legitimised the fact that in future, faced with a migration crisis on our territory, other EU states may in turn suspend Schengen and leave us isolated,” explains Conte. “As far back as June 2018, at my first European Council meeting, we achieved a breakthrough: it was recognised that anyone who lands in Italy lands in Europe. It wasn’t easy; I forced my colleagues to stay in the meeting until dawn,” recalls the former prime minister, “there has never been a single instance where, in the face of arrivals, after going round the various ministries, I did not secure a concrete redistribution of migrants. A solidarity mechanism was introduced, and in 2019 we even reached an agreement with Malta, France, Germany and Finland. We established a principle of automatic relocation of asylum seekers, with a rotation of safe ports. All of this has been lost, drowned out by Meloni’s propaganda: having claimed great successes for years, she cannot now even fight for a more efficient mechanism; it would be like dropping the mask.”