After a year in government, Italy’s far-right prime minister has not followed through with her electoral pledge to halt ‘illegal’ migration. But she has carved an influential role for herself on the theme of immigration in Europe and has used it to her advantage, the Guardian’s Rome correspondent, Angela Giuffrida, explains.
Italy is at the centre of migration routes to Europe, with more people arriving there than Greece, Malta and Spain. The numbers have increased in the past decade and are expected to rise further.
If European leaders remain divided on the matter, and no concrete solutions are reached, Giuffrida says Meloni will use the number of people arriving in order to stir up support for herself and her far-right allies before EU elections in May
