Migration: Rome Comes Under Pressure from Both Brussels and Berlin
The new EU migration pact is intensifying the dispute with Germany over deportations, while Salvini is stepping up his domestic political campaign
Rome – One day after the joint initiative by Meloni and Frederiksen On Tuesday, the new EU Migration Pact took center stage in the Italian debate on uncontrolled immigration. The asylum and migration management framework, which has been in effect since mid-June, extended the responsibility of countries of first entry—such as Italy—for migrants who entered the EU irregularly from twelve to twenty months; in the case of individuals who go into hiding, transfers are even possible after three years.
This situation recently led to a conflict with Berlin. Germany announced that it would once again send asylum seekers back to Italy and Greece under the so-called Dublin Regulation. The Italian Ministry of the Interior rejected this, stating that all individuals who arrived before June 12 were already covered by a bilateral agreement reached last fall. At the same time, Rome demanded compensation from Berlin for migrants who had been brought to Italy on ships flying the German flag. In an assessment in mid-July, the European Commission noted that Italy had suspended transfers since December 2022 and had rejected twelve requests within a few weeks; the next review is scheduled for mid-October. The pact’s solidarity mechanism provides for just over 21,000 redistributions across Europe per year or compensation payments of 20,000 euros per person not taken in —an amount that critics in Rome consider insufficient to offset the burden on the countries of arrival.
While the government was grappling with Berlin and, once again, Madrid on foreign policy issues, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini went on the offensive once more on domestic policy. The League leader defended the tightened border controls as a necessary measure and pushed for a new security decree, while his Interior Ministry reported that arrivals on Italian shores had fallen by more than half compared to the previous year. In doing so, Salvini demonstratively sided with the Spanish right-wing party Vox and sharply attacked the government of Pedro Sánchez.
However, this tough public stance masked cracks within the right-wing coalition. Critics from the national-conservative camp pointed out that, despite the harsh rhetoric, the actual deportation figures remained low—only a fraction of those required to leave the country were actually forced to do so in 2026. Foreign observers, too, have recently interpreted the hardline approach to migration policy as an attempt to divert attention from internal tensions within the coalition. Meloni herself stuck to the common line with Copenhagen and the demand for return centers in third countries, while the dispute with Berlin over the interpretation of the new pact remained unresolved.
