EU stays on the sidelines over migrant deal between Italy and Albania

Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A top European Union official has refused to be drawn on an opinion of an agreement between Italy and Albania to process some migrants in centers set up in the tiny Western Balkan country, saying only that it was being closely monitored. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was speaking on a visit to the Albanian capital, Tirana. Last November Italy and Albania signed a five-year deal that up to 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania. It has been hailed by countries suffering high level of migration like Italy and slammed by human rights organizations as a dangerous precedent.