Italy pledges to take back illegal Kosovo refugees

President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (r) and the Italian government told Swiss Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss (l) on Monday that Rome would cooperate with the Swiss authorities on the controversial issue of illegal Kosovo refugees.

President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (r) and the Italian government told Swiss Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss (l) on Monday that Rome would cooperate with the Swiss authorities on the controversial issue of illegal Kosovo refugees.

Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini assured Deiss that Italy would now take back Kosovo refugees who had entered Switzerland illegally from Italy, a Swiss foreign ministry spokeswoman said after the talks.

The Italian authorities also assured Deiss that they would allow returning Kosovo refugees to travel across Italian territory.

The issue of illegal refugees has somewhat strained relations between the two countries as some groups in Switzerland accused Rome of not cracking down hard enough on smugglers leading Kosovo refugees across Italy to the Swiss border.

Italy and Switzerland reached an agreement to curb illegal immigration a year ago but, as opposed to the Swiss parliament, Italy still has to ratify the accord.

Dini told Deiss that Italy would now set up a working committee to address the issue, adding that Rome would implement the accord as if it had been ratified by parliament already.

Deiss was on his first official working visit to Italy and the Swiss foreign ministry said his talks also focused on European integration and relations between Italy and Switzerland.

Last month, Switzerland and the EU — which includes Italy but not Switzerland — signed a comprehensive package of bilateral agreements that will likely move Switzerland much closer to the EU than ever before.

The parliaments of all EU countries and Switzerland must still approve the agreements.


Sources: APD, sda-ats