Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Britain and Italy agree to deepen security cooperation, says UK's Starmer
FRANCE 24 English
Follow
9/16/2024
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
š
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Meanwhile the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in Rome today meeting the Italian Premier
00:05
Giorgia Maloney. Their focus is clamping down on migration via boats that reach their shores
00:11
illegally. Now Starmer and Maloney hail from different sides of the political spectrum,
00:17
Starmer from the centre left and Maloney from the far right. They are not though
00:21
their natural allies but on this issue the pair are looking for common ground.
00:26
We also discussed the challenge of irregular migration. This is a problem across Europe
00:35
for both of our countries in particular but across Europe. As Director of Public Prosecutions
00:41
in Britain some years ago I saw the important work that can be done across borders on issues
00:48
like counter-terrorism and I've never accepted as we discussed that we can't do the same with
00:53
smuggling gangs and now of course Italy has shown that we can. You've made remarkable progress
01:02
working with countries along migration routes as equals. Well our Rome correspondent Seema
01:09
Gupta has been listening to that press conference this afternoon. She's with
01:12
me on the programme live now. Seema tell us a bit more about what was said.
01:18
Well essentially on the issue of migration which is something that we knew that they
01:22
were going to be discussing. Clearly they were talking about intensifying their cooperation on
01:28
this issue, dealing with illegal immigration and fighting those smugglers. Miss Maloney,
01:35
the Italian Prime Minister talked about putting in a system in place where both countries police
01:41
forces as well as intelligence services could make the laws of the country work better to deal
01:48
with the smugglers which are very powerful and strong across the world. She said no country
01:55
alone can deal with these network of smugglers and that the fight or the struggle to deal
02:02
with this issue has to be brought to the countries of origins from which these migrants leave as well
02:08
as the transit countries. Italy of course has seen a 60% drop in the number of migrant arrivals
02:16
crossing the Mediterranean and coming into the country in the first half of this year as compared
02:20
to the same period last year partly due to deals that it struck with countries like Libya and
02:27
Tunisia in trying to stem the migrant flow. Deals that have led to criticism particularly from
02:35
rights groups who believe that some of these deals are being made with countries that have
02:40
dubious rights records themselves. Mr. Stammer particularly talking about the situation that
02:46
Italy has put forward in the decision to process male asylum seekers in Albania
02:55
and that is something that they said they're very interested in looking at, they're simply
02:59
exploring but Mr. Stammer also making it very clear that he believes in adopting a pragmatic
03:05
approach in dealing with this issue, they want to study what Italy is proposing in Albania
03:12
and he believes really deterrence is really the most effective way to deal with the issue of
03:18
illegal migration and trying to clamp down on those people, smugglers. The two leaders also
03:26
touched on the issue of Ukraine of course, both of them supporting Kyiv's right to achieve peace,
03:34
the issue of the authorization of weapons to be used on western, provided weapons to be used on
03:42
Russian territory, a question was asked on this, Ms. Maloney saying every single country has to
03:49
decide how they want to go forward for Italy, they're focusing on defending the civil population,
03:56
she appreciated Mr. Stammer's support as he thanked Ms. Maloney and the Italian government
04:04
for their leadership on the issue of Ukraine and said, Ms. Maloney essentially said
04:11
each country has to decide how far the risk is of a possible escalation in every decision that
04:18
they make in every day. And Seema, on the question of immigration, as I say Stammer and Maloney
04:28
coming from very different sides of the political spectrum, can they really find common ground on
04:32
that issue? Well, we'll have to see and you're absolutely right, I mean you've got Keir Starmer,
04:40
the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, someone who's coming from the Labour, the centre
04:46
left and then on the hard right, on the opposite side, you have Georgia Maloney and her far-right
04:51
Brothers of Italy party and her right-wing coalition that's running the country. I think
04:58
they're both though united in the pressures that they are facing in trying to curb these migrant
05:05
arrivals onto their shores and at the moment with those numbers going down so significantly
05:11
compared to 2023, Italy at least in terms of numbers is looking like this potential success
05:18
story. For Mr. Stammer's part, he wants to show himself as dealing with the issue of immigration
05:25
but we understand from reports that he's also receiving criticism from backbenchers of his
05:32
own party as well as those rights groups who are saying that what Italy is trying to do is
05:38
questionable, dealing with those other countries and perhaps how is this project in Albania going
05:44
to actually work. Ms. Maloney during that media conference making it very clear that
05:49
arrangement with Albania to process asylum seekers is not in any way according to her
05:55
breaking any EU or Italian laws. So she feels this project which she said should be up and
06:01
running in some weeks will be a way forward and perhaps an example to other countries and I think
06:08
that's what Mr. Stammer is here to find out more upon and he did in fact bring his new leader of
06:16
a task force to deal with this migration issue in the UK. That person was travelling with him
06:23
in these meetings with their Italian counterparts. Sima Gupta live in Rome, thank you.
Recommended
1:10
|
Up next
John F. Kennedy Assassination 16mm Original - Driver shooting at Kennedy!
Jelani Trent
9/7/2015
1:45
UK hosts European leaders for security talks
FRANCE 24 English
3/2/2025
1:55
Italy holds referendums on citizenship and workers' rights
FRANCE 24 English
6/8/2025
3:10
Starmer, Scholz seek reset in British-EU ties with bilateral treaty
FRANCE 24 English
8/28/2024
4:31
UK PM Starmer to meet Italy's Meloni for illegal immigration talks
FRANCE 24 English
9/16/2024
24:06
Live: Keir Starmer officially becomes UK new prime minister
FRANCE 24 English
7/5/2024
4:33
Britain's Starmer in Brussels to flesh out EU 'reset' pledge
FRANCE 24 English
10/3/2024
1:44
France to boost Olympics security with foreign military, police support
FRANCE 24 English
3/29/2024
3:47
IncumbentĀ centre-right coalition likely to form next govt
FRANCE 24 English
11/30/2024
1:37
Italy takes back 43 migrants following court ruling
FRANCE 24 English
2/2/2025
2:02
Key figures in France's left-wing alliance
FRANCE 24 English
7/8/2024
5:31
UK defence summit: Greater 'sense of urgency' than Munich
FRANCE 24 English
3/2/2025
1:14
METEO TEST EN
FRANCE 24 English
4/1/2025
6:29
French Connections
FRANCE 24 English
12/21/2023
32:21
Replay: UK's Starmer gives joint press conference with Trump
FRANCE 24 English
2/27/2025
2:01
French minister calls for EU, UK 'migration treaty' after latest Channel deaths
FRANCE 24 English
9/4/2024
2:49
Germany tightens controls at all borders in immigration crackdown
FRANCE 24 English
9/10/2024
1:54
France and six other countries face EU budget discipline measures
FRANCE 24 English
6/19/2024
1:27
Germany begins conducting checks at all its land borders
FRANCE 24 English
9/16/2024
1:42
France's new PM to propose cabinet line-up
FRANCE 24 English
9/20/2024
1:56
France's Macron hosts Starmer as UK seeks to reset Europe ties
FRANCE 24 English
8/29/2024
2:06
France: Negotiations to form a gouvernment continue
FRANCE 24 English
7/12/2024
4:47
French left-wing alliance unveils budget plan
FRANCE 24 English
6/21/2024
1:22
Zelensky signs Ukraine security accord with EU
FRANCE 24 English
6/28/2024
1:55
French politicians react
FRANCE 24 English
9/7/2024