Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed skepticism about the migration agreement between Italy and Albania in an interview with the "Financial Times", quoted by the electronic edition of "Kathimerini".
Missotakis said it remains to be seen whether the agreement will be effective and expressed doubts about its potential to be implemented at the European level.
"Let me be careful here. This is a bilateral agreement. "I don't know if it can be replicated at the European level," he said. "We also need to see if it actually works.
"These people are being processed under Italian asylum law and whatever happens to them, they will - one way or another - be returned to Italy. If we have to do this at the European level..., where would they go?", Mitsotakis added.
The Greek prime minister also said that the European Union should create legal routes for immigrants and asylum seekers.
"If you want to build a big fence, you'll also need a big gate," he said.
Italy has built two reception centers in Albania under an agreement between the two governments – the first such deal where an EU country directs migrants to a non-EU country in an attempt to cope with the increased migration flow.
According to the agreement signed in November 2023 by the Prime Ministers of Italy and Albania, Giorgia Meloni and Edi Rama, Albania will shelter up to 3,000 migrants a month found by the Italian coast guard in international waters. The agreement stipulates that they will be checked on board rescue ships before being sent to Albania for further checks.
The first migrants sent to reception centers based on this agreement arrived in Albania this week.