Giorgia Meloni

Italy's right-wing government on Tuesday declared a six-month national state of emergency to help it cope with a surge in migrants arriving on the country's southern shores.

State TV said a special commissioner was expected to be named. Initial funding of 5 million euros (nearly $5.5 million) was also approved as part of the measure approved by Premier Giorgia Meloni and her Cabinet.

The state of emergency will be valid for six months and should first enable the payment of five million euros to particularly affected regions in the south of Italy, it was confirmed to the DPA agency from the office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

Two days since Montenegro's presidential election, incumbent Milo Djukanovic's loss at the hands of 36-year-old political rookie Jakov Milatovic continued to reverberate in Serbian media.

Since 2015, when migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa began crossing the Balkans in significant numbers, Trieste has been a hub for those trying to reach bigger Italian cities or continue deeper into Western Europe.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vui, speaks from Verona, where he discussed all current topics, after today's meeting with the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni.
He said that the meeting with Giorgia Meloni was fundamentally good and that he expects her before the end of the year in Belgrade.

VERONA - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday he had thanked Italian PM Giorgia Meloni for the support and attention Italy was giving to Serbia and added that he expected Meloni to visit Serbia by the end of this year.

"With or without European money, the fence on the Evros will be completed," said the Greek Prime Minister, who is from the ranks of conservatives, reports the portal Euractiv, which reminds that Greece has already built a 37.5 kilometer long fence on the Evros River, but that it plans to expand it by much more.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday expressed his confidence that Greece will regain investment grade rating this year.

"I am certain that we can achieve the investment grade goal by 2023 as long as people have faith [in New Democracy] and [the elections] result in a strong and stable government," Mitsotakis said in comments after the European Council meeting Friday.

But a police raid on our newsroom was not exactly what I was expecting. None of my colleagues were. 

A 'surreal' raid

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends an EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 23, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET

Amid the fallout from the Ukraine conflict and recent financial turmoil, Greece arrived at Thursday's regular European Council meeting in Brussels hoping to have a discussion on the new framework for fiscal policy conduct at the level of heads of state.