Italy's Meloni and Hungary's Orbán pledge deeper cooperation on migration and Ukraine
Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni has met her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán in Rome, where the two discussed the situation in the Middle East, their support for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and their commitment to the eastern country’s reconstruction
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni met her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán on Wednesday in Rome, where the two discussed the situation in the Middle East, their support for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and their commitment to the eastern country’s reconstruction.
Meloni also congratulated Orbán on his six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council, the first chapter of accession talks with Albania and the progress made with Bulgaria and Romania in the expansion of the Schengen area, according to a statement from the Italian government.
The two far-right leaders also discussed the Middle East conflict, support for a peaceful resolution in Ukraine, and their nations’ commitment to Ukraine’s reconstruction ahead of the next recovery conference, which will be held in Rome in July 2025.
During the 1 1/2-hour meeting at the Italian government's headquarters the leaders also emphasized the importance of addressing irregular migration, calling for increased cooperation with countries of origin and transit to tackle root causes and combat human trafficking and smuggling.
They also agreed on the urgent need for an updated legal framework to facilitate, increase and speed up returns from the EU, with particular focus on strengthening the concept of safe countries of origin.
They stressed the importance of exploring new ways to prevent and counter irregular migration, in line with EU and international law, building up on the path opened by the Italy-Albania agreement, that seeks to speed up processing migrants' asylum requests while hosting them in newly-opened reception centers in Albania, under Rome's jurisdiction.
Meloni has faced challenges to implement the deal, as Italian magistrates have so far blocked transfers of migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to the new Albanian processing centers, as their countries of origin were not considered safe enough for repatriation.