Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi met his Austrian counterpart, Gerhard Karner, in Rome on November 19. They talked about migration policy and the fight against human trafficking networks.
The meeting at the Viminale, the headquarters of the Interior Ministry, covered an assessment of migration trends, action against traffickers, cooperation with migrants' countries of origin and transit, implementation of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration, cross-border cooperation, security issues and measures against organized crime.
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Piantedosi: 'Full alignment on all issues discussed'
Italy's Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi said there was "full alignment on all the issues discussed, particularly on the importance of establishing European hubs where irregular migrants present on EU territory could be transferred, following the model of the Italy-Albania protocol."
The Minister also said he felt there was a "need to implement more effective measures to control the EU's external borders. I also shared with my counterpart the importance of increasing, in cooperation with IOM and UNHCR, assisted voluntary returns," he added.
"From the start of the year until November 16, 13,823 migrants were sent back from Libya to their countries of origin and more than 8,000 from Tunisia."
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'Joint patrols are effective against irregular entries'
"As far as cooperation between our police forces is concerned, joint patrols have proven highly effective, preventing many migrants from entering Italy irregularly," continued Minister Piantedosi.
"Italy and Austria share clear and common objectives: from migration to security, from tackling criminal networks to protecting our communities, and I am confident that the work we will continue to carry out together will deliver concrete results for both our countries," Piantedosi concluded.