The Albanian Constitutional Court has suspended the parliamentary procedure, which was supposed to ratify, today 14 December, the agreement with Italy on migrants and, therefore, also the application of the protocol.
THEagreement signed by Edi Rama e Giorgia Meloni il 6th November last foresees the construction of two structures, operational from spring 2024, with a maximum capacity of 3 thousand people at a time, for accept and examine people's asylum requests migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by ships of the Italian authorities.
The Court was called into question by two appeals presented separately from Democratic Party Albanian and 28 other deputies lined up alongside theformer center-right prime minister Sali Berisha. The appeal claims that the agreement violates the Constitution and international conventions to which Albania adheres.
The judges' decision means that the ratify parliamentarian of the agreement remains suspended until the court issues a ruling. The Constitutional Court, after having accepted the appeals, will meet to make a decision on 18st January at 10.
We will therefore talk about it after January 18th. The judges will then have three months to deliver their verdict. Therefore, in the best case scenario, the project will suffer a setback which risks compromising the construction of the centers before the summer season, when migratory flows become more substantial.
Palazzo Chigi does not comment on the Court's decision, but says that there is "no concern" about the setback imposed by the Albanian supreme court. Just yesterday, Wednesday, the Italian government received praise from the president of the EU Commission: «The agreement between Italy and Albania – according to president Ursula von der Leyen – is an example of thinking outside the box, based on a fair sharing of responsibilities with third countries, in line with the obligations established by international and EU law".
