Antonio Tajani, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, highlighted that the Italian government will organize a “big conference” between African and European countries on the immigration file.
The conference aims to address the causes of irregular migration during a meeting between Prime Minister George Meloni and Tunisian President Kais Saied.
During a TV interview, Tajani noted that Italy cannot handle all the migrants who want to reach Europe. However, it is ready to “receive regular migrants who come to work.”
“We are ready to increase the number to more than 120,000 annually over the next three years,” he added.
As for irregular migration, he affirmed: “We must defend our borders, but we cannot do it alone.”
Last June, the Tunisian President asserted that Tunisia will not be a guardian of Europe’s borders in preventing the flow of illegal immigrants.
“There are criminal networks that traffic in human beings in the countries of origin or in countries of destination in Europe,” Saied mentioned during a phone call with President of the European Council Charles Michel.
He added: “Security solutions alone are not enough to eliminate the scourge.”
