American billionaire Elon Musk intervened today in the tense debate about the migrant policy of the Italian far-right government and criticized the country's judges.
Summoned judges from Rome rejected on Monday the detention of the second group of migrants transferred to centers in Albania under the agreement between Tirana and Rome, and forwarded the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The stay of the first group of migrants sent to centers in Albania last month was also rejected by Italian judges who cited a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice questioning how Italy designates countries as "safe" to return migrants to their countries of origin.
"Those judges need to go," X Musk, the world's richest man who played a leading role in re-electing Republican Donald Trump as US president, commented on his network.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right and anti-immigration League, responded in English, "Mask is right."
The center-left Democratic Party, Italy's main opposition party, on the other hand, condemned the comment as "unacceptable interference" in Italian affairs.
The Italian judges also reacted.
Lawyer Ernesto Carbone, a member of the High Council of the Judiciary, condemned the "new oligarchs" who intend to "control world politics and who represent a danger to democracy."
The National Association of Judges also expressed "astonishment" at Musk's statement.
"Here it is no longer the independence of the judiciary, but the sovereignty of the Italian state," said the vice-president of that body, Alessandra Madalena.
Prime Minister Đorđe Meloni's attempts to reduce the number of migrants who reach Italian shores every year have been challenged in court several times, often successfully, including when it comes to the agreement signed with Tirana last year.
According to that agreement, it is stipulated that the asylum requests of migrants who are taken over by the Italian authorities in the Mediterranean, and who are considered to have come from "safe" countries, will be considered in Albania.
Judges in Italy, however, already last month made a decision in the case of the first group of migrants transferred to Albania on the basis of that agreement, and ordered that 12 men from Bangladesh and Egypt be returned to Italy.
The judges referred to the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union according to which the member states of the Union can designate as safe whole countries and not parts of countries, since the Italian list of safe countries included some countries with dangerous zones.
In response, the Italian government passed a law limiting the list to 19 countries, down from the previous 22.
However, in the judgment passed yesterday regarding the second group of transferred migrants – seven men from Egypt and Bangladesh, the judges from Rome declared that they wanted clarification from the Court of Justice of the European Union, to determine whether the Italian law is in accordance with European laws.
Last week, Elon Musk called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz "crazy" on the X network, after the collapse of Germany's ruling coalition due to internal disagreements.
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