In her year-end press conference, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that the EU's new pact on migration is "better than in the previous one" while adding that is "not a solution" in the long term.
Meloni said that the EU "will not solve migrant problems if we try to manage them only when they arrive."
Meloni added that "there is work to be done beforehand," which she stressed Italy could not do alone.
"All the G7 [states] and especially Europe must think about Africa, which is a continent that has the potential to be very wealthy and is a victim of destabilisation," Meloni concluded.
Concern about alleged rise in crime
While she welcomed the fact that under the new pact, "(t)here is a serious mechanism that commits other countries to redistribution," she stressed that more needed to be done. Among other things, she claimed that a rise in crime in Italy due to irregular immigration remained a concern.
"I believe that we must be firm," she said, "coming here is a free choice. Every culture has its added value but it cannot prevail over the regulations of the Italian state, which must be complied with if they live in Italy."
"At the level of regulations, the nation in which they live is what is to be abided by," Meloni added.
"If I ask myself whether I am satisfied, I would say no, for now," she said.
Growing arrival numbers
Meloni's words come are Italy failed to be successful in reducing irregular migration numbers in 2023, according to Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.
"The number of arrivals this year certainly does not correspond to the goal of the political measures that the government has introduced in various directions to combat and defeat human trafficking," Piantedosi told Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Citing data from his ministry, Piantedosi said that more than 155,750 people had arrived in Italy by sea in 2023.
This marks an increase of nearly 50% from the previous year, when an estimated 105,000 arrived.