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As today the Constitutional Court in Albania will decide the issue of the agreement between Albania and Italy for the housing of immigrants, the head of the government in Rome has revealed another plan for immigrants.
According to 'The Guardian', Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is ready to announce her big plan for Italy in Africa as she tries to position her country at the forefront of European cooperation on the African continent in return for curbing illegal migration. .
The so-called 'Mattei' plan, named after Enrico Mattei, the founder of the oil company Eni, will be presented today in Rome to a host of leaders from Africa and Europe, including the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Meloni announced her plan for Africa shortly after her far-right government took office in October 2022, with the main goal of transforming Italy into an energy hub as Europe moves away from Russian gas.
Although details of the broader scope of the plan have so far been scarce, a draft decree approved in November calls for Italy to take what Meloni has described as a "non-predatory" approach to helping African countries in the fields including education, health, exports and infrastructure.
A priority for Meloni in exchange for helping African economies thrive is stemming the flow of immigrants from Africa, an election promise she has so far failed to fulfill.
The initiative is so important to Meloni that her office will be in charge of implementing the plan. She also took the unusual step of holding the summit at the Palazzo Madama, the seat of the Italian senate, a move criticized by opposition parties who accused her of "capturing" the building.
"I don't understand what the problem is," Lucio Malan, the main leader of the senate, told the Guardian. "It is a matter of prestige and it will not hinder the work of the senators in any way. The fact that such an important event is taking place in the senate, an ancient palace full of history and works of art, will give a beautiful impression of Italy."
Malan said that the African continent has always been of strategic importance for Italy.
"Tunisia is closer to Sicily than Sicily is to Rome," he said, adding that the plan was also aimed at increasing influence on a continent where countries including Russia and Turkey had already made significant inroads.
Leaders from 23 African nations will attend the summit, including Moussa Faki, the president of the African Union Commission, whom Meloni tricked into believing she was speaking in a prank call orchestrated by two Russian comedians in November.
Francesco Galietti, founder of Policy Sonar, a political consultancy in Rome, said: “Meloni has been trying to create this summit for a long time. It is presenting it as a grand strategy and therefore it is getting a lot of attention. However, we still don't know who will be involved, how much money will be poured into it, whether it will be just diplomacy and soft power or something more.”
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