World News | Italy's Meloni, Hungary's Orban Pledge Deeper Cooperation on Migration, Ukraine

Rome, Dec 4 (AP) Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni met her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban on Wednesday in Rome, where the two discussed the situation in the Middle East, their support for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and their commitment to the eastern country's reconstruction.

Meloni also congratulated Orban on his six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council, the first chapter of accession talks with Albania and the progress made with Bulgaria and Romania in the expansion of the Schengen area, according to a statement from the Italian government.

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The two far-right leaders also discussed the Middle East conflict, support for a peaceful resolution in Ukraine, and their nations' commitment to Ukraine's reconstruction ahead of the next recovery conference, which will be held in Rome in July 2025.

During the 1 1/2-hour meeting at the Italian government's headquarters the leaders also emphasised the importance of addressing irregular migration, calling for increased cooperation with countries of origin and transit to tackle root causes and combat human trafficking and smuggling.

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They also agreed on the urgent need for an updated legal framework to facilitate, increase and speed up returns from the EU, with particular focus on strengthening the concept of safe countries of origin.

They stressed the importance of exploring new ways to prevent and counter irregular migration, in line with EU and international law, building up on the path opened by the Italy-Albania agreement, that seeks to speed up processing migrants' asylum requests while hosting them in newly-opened reception centres in Albania, under Rome's jurisdiction.

Meloni has faced challenges to implement the deal, as Italian magistrates have so far blocked transfers of migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to the new Albanian processing centres, as their countries of origin were not considered safe enough for repatriation. (AP)

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