Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will visit Albania tomorrow. The visit will be short and during it she will also hold a meeting with the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama. The two will also discuss the topic of migrant centers that Italy is building on the territory of Albania, BTA quoted.
According to several Albanian and Italian media, Meloni's visit will be part of the week of Italian culture. She could also visit one of the two migrant reception centers.
The two centers will be built under a bilateral agreement signed in November 2023. One center will be for registering migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea by the Italian authorities. The second center will be for the accommodation of the already registered migrants, who will wait there for a response to the submitted requests for asylum in Italy.
Construction of the center in Shenzhen has been completed, local authorities confirmed to AFP.
The costs of building the centers and the necessary infrastructure for their functioning - from security to covering the medical costs of the asylum seekers - are covered 100 percent by Italy. The price, according to the media, is between 650 and 750 million euros for five years.
Yesterday, Edi Rama defended the agreement and said that it was about showing that Albania stands in solidarity with "this demographic problem that Europe is facing now".
Several NGOs have spoken out against this agreement.