ROME (Reuters) – Some legal migration can benefit European economies but migration is not the solution to the continent’s demographic crisis, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday.
She was addressing a summit meeting on demography in Budapest hosted by right-wing nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a long-time political friend.
“I think that a quota of legal migration…can make a positive contribution to our economies, but I remain convinced that it would be more responsible for us to entrust European citizens with the solution to the European welfare system crisis,” Meloni said.
Meloni’s coalition, which came to power last year, has been pushig a nationalist agenda that includes a tough approach to migration, pledges to boost Italy’s record low birth rate, legislation against LGBT parenting and the use of foreign words in official documents.
“We live in an era where everything that defines us is under attack,” Meloni said, adding that defending the traditional model of the family and God was part of “a great battle” to protect humankind and the rights of people.
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni; editing by Alvise Armellini and editing by Mark Heinrich)
