EU asks for more information on Meloni’s move to send asylum seekers to Albania after ‘practically zero notice’ of deal – as it happened

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu/Getty Images

3.59pm GMT

Summary of the day

• Italy’s far-right government announced plans on Monday to establish centres in Albania to accommodate asylum seekers, hailing it as a “historic” deal with Tirana to manage migration flows.

• Giorgia Meloni said Italy’s agreement with Albania “could become a model of cooperation between EU and non-EU countries in managing migration flows”.

• The European Commission said any agreement that Italy enters into with Albanian in relation to processing asylum claims must respect EU and international law.

• Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the leaders of Germany’s 16 states agreed on measures to deal with a large number of migrants arriving in the country. Scholz said the agreements will contribute to speeding up asylum procedures and restricting social benefits paid to asylum seekers and will be backed up by more funding.

• Giulia Spagna, country director for Italy at the Danish Refugee Council, said that while details have yet to be seen, the deal between Italy and Albania appears to fit a trend of efforts to externalise Europe’s borders to a third country.

• Giorgia Linardi, a spokesperson for the rescue NGO Sea-Watch, said the “agreement with Albania represents a new frontal attack by the Italian government to international and EU asylum law, exploiting the desire of international recognition and the fragility of third countries to evade its responsibilities on asylum”.

• The International Rescue Committee said today that Italy’s migration agreement with Albania is dehumanising and “strikes a further blow to the principle of EU solidarity”.

• Swedish ministers sent a letter to EU institutions calling for security cooperation to be strengthened and an effective migration return policy to be implemented.

• The French senate is continuing to debate a controversial immigration law which the government says will improve security for legal immigration, but which the left says marks a lurch to the right by Emmanuel Macron and will result in more people being expelled and tougher conditions.

Updated at 4.18pm GMT

2.52pm GMT

The Platform for Undocumented Migrants says we have “not a very cheerful” blog today.

Wow, not a very cheerful @guardian liveblog on #migration in Europe today...

📰 Read: https://t.co/38EijdzIu3 pic.twitter.com/8HLd6FYWXv

— Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) (@picum_ngo) November 7, 2023