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Story summary
- Advocate-General Nicholas Emiliou said Italy’s 2023 migrant-transfer deal with Albania meets EU return and asylum rules if migrants’ rights are fully protected.
- Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the opinion as validation of her immigration policy.
- Italian courts had blocked the scheme and ordered migrants returned, leading to appeals to the EU Court of Justice.
- Meloni said Albanian centers will be operational in mid-2026, aligning with new EU migration rules.
