Italian PM sparks row with remarks on Islam

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sparked an argument by addressing what she sees as a compatibility concern between Islam and Europe. Talking at her right-wing social gathering’s occasion, the firebrand Italian chief touched upon the problem of Saudi-backed Islamic cultural centres in Italy.

“I consider there’s a downside of compatibility between Islamic tradition or a sure interpretation of Islamic tradition and the rights and values of our civilisation,” she mentioned, in response to movies making rounds on the Web. “It doesn’t escape my thoughts that a lot of the Islamic cultural centres in Italy are financed by Saudi Arabia.”

Meloni additionally spoke on the problem of “lapidation for adultery” and “the demise penalty for apostasy and homosexuality.” “I consider that these needs to be raised, which doesn’t imply generalising on Islam. It means elevating the issue that there’s a technique of Islamisation in Europe that could be very distant from the values of our civilisation,” she mentioned.

These sharp feedback come because the leaders of Italy and the UK agreed on Saturday to sort out irregular migration to Europe, pledging to accentuate cooperation within the combat in opposition to human trafficking. Meloni and Sunak, who held talks in Rome, had been additionally joined by Albanian counterpart Edi Rama, who’s seen as a key ally within the efforts to handle migrant arrivals from North Africa to European shores.

Meloni’s workplace mentioned in an announcement after the assembly that the talks with Sunak “centered totally on the joint work within the area of migration throughout the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in London” in April. The 2 leaders reportedly agreed to co-fund a primary Italian-British mission of assisted voluntary repatriations to international locations of origin drawn up by the Worldwide Group for Migration for migrants stranded in Tunisia.

Meloni, Sunak and Rama agreed on the necessity to handle irregular migration “in an more and more structured method, additional intensifying cooperation between the three international locations to combat human trafficking,” the assertion mentioned. The talks additionally touched on different points, together with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and “the disaster within the Center East,” it added. In current months, Sunak has developed a robust partnership with Meloni, and has sought to win assist from different European leaders to assist crack down on migration, with each Albania and Italy seen as essential companions.