“If we were to do so at the European level … where would they go?” he said.
Under a deal struck in 2023, Tirana agreed that Rome could send up to 36,000 male migrants who have been stopped in international waters each year to two asylum-processing centers in northern Albania, where they will have their asylum claims fast-tracked and be deported if unsuccessful.
The deal — which follows an even harsher British scheme, which has since been scuppered, to send migrants permanently to Rwanda — has received a tentative endorsement from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said there are “lessons” to draw from it.
Fifteen other EU member countries have written to the Commission requesting it explores similar models, with the Netherlands this week reportedly investigating the possibility of sending rejected asylum-seekers to Uganda. Migration is widely expected to be the most pressing issue on the agenda of Thursday’s European Council summit in Brussels.
But while cracking down on undocumented migration was crucial to leaders, Mitsotakis said the bloc was also in dire need of more workers to backfill its aging workforce.
“If you want to build a big fence, you also need a big door,” Mitsotakis said. “Who is going to pick our olives? We are a continent that is shrinking, and we all recognize that in order to maintain our productivity, we will need labor, unskilled or skilled.”