EU Official to Visit Lampedusa Amid Italy's Migrant Crisis

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plan to visit the Italian island of Lampedusa, where thousands of migrants arrived this week from Tunisia. Italy is seeking EU assistance to handle the overwhelming migratory pressure, with nearly 126,000 migrants arriving this year. Meloni wants to add migration to the agenda of the next EU summit and calls for an EU mission to prevent boats from leaving Tunisia, although this would violate international maritime law. The Italian government has been trying to make it more difficult for private rescue ships to operate, but this has had little effect on the number of arrivals. Meloni's call for the implementation of the EU's "New Pact on Migration and Asylum" aligns with von der Leyen's advocacy for adopting the measures proposed by the European Commission. However, the pact is opposed by right-wing nationalist governments in Poland and Hungary. Meloni has announced that her cabinet will decide on "extraordinary measures" on Monday, which could include prolonged detention and deploying the army to run reception centers for migrants on the mainland.