by InTrieste
The migratory issue and, in particular, the Balkan route, were at the front burner during a meeting held in Trieste on Saturday, 14 January, in which the national government’s representative, minister Piantedosi, took part.
The new Prefect of Trieste, Pietro Signoriello, announced the press conference on the day he took office on 3 January, coming from Vicenza. The Balkan route is a “a national issue,” he said.
The government’s goal, minister Piantedosi said during the press conference on Saturday, is to stop illegal immigration and to urge the EU to develop “a great migration policy” to tackle an “epochal challenge”, which is immigration.
The minister pointed out that the government has “no intention of failing in its duty of welcoming and showing solidarity for people fleeing war and persecution”, but neither does it intends to back down, reaffirming the principle that “no one enters Italy illegally.”
“Trieste cannot be left alone; we need to show solidarity at the national level,” added Piantedosi. “We’ll increase security and border patrol, and we’ll work on lightening the immigration burden of Friuli Venezia-Giulia.”
The number of migrants arriving in Trieste rose five-fold in the last quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, the former prefect, Annunziato Vardè, said in a farewell press conference before taking up a new post in Rome in December. Vardé reported what he called an exponential increase in the number of migrant entries at the Trieste border alone, from 1,194 in the last three months of 2021 to 5,690 in the same period relative to 2022.
The numbers include immigrants who entered Italy illegally and those who spontaneously presented themselves to the forces of law and order once once they had entered the country. Specifically, in October 2,104 migrants entered, compared to 525 in 2021; in November 2,451 (470); in December 1,135, as ANSA reports.
Under international law, if someone seeks asylum when they enter a territory, the method of entry becomes almost irrelevant, meaning they cannot be considered as having committed an offence.
