Aug 3, 2026
EU migrants may end up in Armenia
Irina Covalenco
Against the backdrop of the ongoing migration crisis, Italy plans to propose the establishment of migrant repatriation centers in Armenia, which has been included on the preliminary list of countries to host such facilities.
On Tuesday, at an emergency meeting of the EU Council, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi intends to bring up for discussion within the EU the idea of establishing centers modeled after the “Albanian model.”
It is expected that the centers will be built with European funding, though at this point it is only a proposal. According to the newspaper Corriere della Sera, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intends to extend the so-called “Albanian model” to EU migration policy following the crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, where more than 60,000 migrants entered illegally.
In addition to Armenia, the preliminary list of potential countries includes Rwanda, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Egypt, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Montenegro, and Ethiopia.
Earlier, false information circulated online claiming that the Armenian authorities had signed an agreement to accept 250,000 refugees from the EU; this was refuted as disinformation, as the official summit documents contained no such provisions.
The “Albanian model” entails that asylum seekers and undocumented migrants are housed and undergo all necessary procedures not on the territory of an EU country, but in a third country. This allows European countries to conduct the processes of reviewing applications and preparing for deportation outside the European Union.
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