Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that he had previously refused to allow then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to enter into an agreement to send illegal migrants to Albania.
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In February, the Associated Press reported that the Albanian parliament approved an agreement with Italy under which Albania will hold migrants rescued by Italy in international waters while the issue of granting them asylum is resolved. In an interview with the Financial Times, the Albanian prime minister said that the authorities of several countries, including Britain, approached him with a proposal to conclude such an agreement, but he refused.
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“Boris Johnson called me and said: ‘I appreciate your leadership, let’s do something together. Let’s make an agreement whereby Britain will bring illegal immigrants to Albania to hold them there and process them (asylum applications). I said, “Sorry, that’s not possible,” Rama said.
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The prime minister noted that he had refused to sign such an agreement to a number of countries because he did not see the point in it, and added that the agreement with Italy was “an isolated case.”
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“Italy is very important to us, it’s more than a strategic relationship. It’s a very deep-rooted friendship,” the politician emphasized.
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He added that while the agreement with Italy limits the number of illegal migrants arriving in Albania for detention (up to three thousand people at a time), the British proposal did not contain such restrictions.
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“It was about everyone who comes to Britain… like a transit. I said it was impossible. Then there were other (countries), I will not name them. They are among the richest countries in Europe,” Rama added.
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said after a meeting with her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in November 2023 in Rome that Italy and Albania have entered into an agreement to combat illegal migration, which provides for the opening of two centers on Albanian territory. They are called upon, at Italian expense and under the jurisdiction of Rome, to examine asylum applications. According to Meloni, when they open in the spring of 2024, the centers will be able to accommodate up to three thousand people at a time, and over time the total number could reach 36 thousand per year. At the end of January, an Albanian court confirmed the constitutionality of the deal.
