ROME (ITALPRESS) – “The Albania project, on which we have registered the strong interest of 15 European countries and especially of the President of the European Commission, responds to the government’s priority objective of preventing and countering irregular migratory flows and will be able to play an important deterrent function in the future, with consequent benefits that will also be reflected in the work and tasks of the Police Forces.” Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said this during Question Time in the Senate, responding to a question on the 16 migrants transferred to Albania, 12 of whom later returned to Italy after a court order in Rome.”In my opinion, a prejudicial focus has been placed on a single operation of recovery and transfer of migrants carried out by public naval assets, if one takes into account that the numbers of operations of a similar type in the last decade show an average of hundreds of interventions per year, with peaks of arrivals, in certain periods, that have exceptionally burdened the burdens on public finance, as well as on the reception system,” Piantedosi added. This is an economic burden (around two billion euros in 2023 alone), as well as a managerial one, that the current government has inherited from previous eras of resignation and absence of any reaction to massive and uncontrolled arrivals. “I also point out that the real cost of the Libra ship’s commitment turned out to be 8.400 euros in total, net of the expenses of ordinary daily operation of the ship; a daily cost far lower than what was incurred in the era of great celebration of operations such as Mare Nostrum, which required charges of 300,000 euros per day. In any case, all of the wide-ranging actions put in place by this government contrast the sharp decline in the number of arrivals of migrants by sea: minus 62 percent compared to last year and minus 30 percent compared to 2022,” the minister continued. “With the current government, the season of indiscriminate cuts in security policies and the failure to recognize the specificity and relevance of the tasks carried out by the police force is also over. I reassure the questioner that the turnover cut, provided for in the budget bill for the civil service in general, does not affect the Police Forces, precisely because of their specificity in terms of order, affirmed by other measures of this Government. “This Government, in fact, since it took office has dedicated significant resources to the entire sector, starting with the recruitment fund of the budget law for 2023, which is allowing for the rejuvenation and strengthening of the workforce. In 2023 alone, there have been 15,000 new hires, including more than 3,500 in addition to the turnover,” Piantedosi concluded. “Even in the recent financial measures before Parliament, starting with the 100 million for overtime for the Police Forces and Fire Brigades, important allocations have been provided for the upcoming contractual renewal and investments aimed at strengthening and modernizing means and facilities.
– Photo Agency Photogram –
(ITALPRESS).
