Albania’s Constitutional Court has blocked the parliament’s ratification of an agreement with the Italian government, which provides for the placement in the Balkan country of migrants arriving in Italy by sea.
“Albania’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday blocked, at least temporarily, the ratification by lawmakers of a controversial agreement signed by Tirana with Rome to consider asylum applications in Albania for some migrants arriving in Italy by sea,” the report said.
Judge Olta Zakai said the court will hold a public hearing on January 18 to determine whether the deal violates Albania’s constitution.
The decision means parliament will not vote to ratify the deal during a session scheduled for Thursday. It is currently unknown when lawmakers will be able to vote on this issue.
The court’s decision came after an appeal by the opposition, which argued that the deal was against Albania’s constitution and international law.
Under a five-year deal between Tirana and Rome announced in November, Albania is to take in up to 36,000 migrants a year, or about 3,000 a month, who have arrived in Italy without proper documents, mostly on dangerous sea journeys.
In November, when Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and his Italian counterpart announced the deal, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she expected Albanian migration centers to open next spring.
The opposition claims that the isolation of migrants in the camps will deprive them of “any rights granted to people by the Albanian constitution”.
The deal has also been criticized by human rights organizations and other groups, as well as Italy’s left-wing opposition parties.