Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (L) addresses the media as she arrives to take part in the Informal EU Leaders’ Retreat at the Alden Biesen Castle in Alden Biesen, central Belgium on February 12, 2026.
NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
Officials stress that Italy’s borders are Europe’s borders, and “defending them is a duty.”
Rome is sending an important message to European establishment governments that say they want to secure their nation’s borders yet do little in the way of action: control is possible if you work for it.
Giorgia Meloni’s government on Wednesday approved a bill introducing new measures aimed at tackling illegal migration. Among them, a ‘naval blockade’ to stop migrant boats from reaching Italy’s shores if they are understood to pose “serious threats to public order or national security”—for example, by risking terrorist infiltration, or due to “exceptional migratory pressure”—has received the most media attention. Migrants on these banned vessels would then be moved to third countries.
The prime minister hailed these “very significant” proposals for fighting against “mass illegal immigration and human traffickers” and said the package was “a viable option that is compatible with the new European [Union] rules, which Italy also helped define, demonstrating how all the work we’ve done in Europe in recent years is bringing about a complete transformation in the management of this phenomenon.”
For all those who said it was impossible, I want to remind you that nothing is truly impossible for those who are determined to do something. And we are determined to ensure border security, the safety of our citizens, and we will use every tool we can to ensure this security.
Oggi il Governo ha approvato un provvedimento molto significativo per rafforzare il contrasto all’immigrazione illegale di massa e ai trafficanti di esseri umani. Ascoltate. pic.twitter.com/WijEHfvyXq
Stressing the wider implications of these measures, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on Wednesday stressed that “Italy’s borders are Europe’s borders” and “defending them is a duty.”
On Thursday, he pointed to another victory of Italy’s law enforcement agencies, whose commitment “to counter every form of threat to national security does not stop,” after two foreign citizens reported to have been in contact with members of Islamic extremist terror groups were deported to their countries of origin.
Non si ferma l’impegno delle Forze dell’ordine per contrastare ogni forma di minaccia alla sicurezza nazionale. Due cittadini stranieri, emersi all’attenzione delle autorità per essere in contatto con membri di gruppi terroristici di matrice islamica, sono stati espulsi e… pic.twitter.com/GkNE7P9krJ
Indeed, the government’s new measures also include provisions for the faster expelling of convicted foreigners.
They will now go to parliament for discussions and a vote. Meloni on Wednesday expressed her hope that the proposals are approved and that “everyone will do their part without creating imaginative and clearly ideological obstacles.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
