Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday (13) hit back at billionaire Elon Musk's criticism of court decisions that prevented forced migrants from being held in a repatriation center built by the Italian government in Albania.
In a statement, the head of state said that “Italy is a great democratic country and knows how to take care of itself, respecting its Constitution.”
“Anyone, especially if they are about to assume an important position in the government of a friendly and allied country, must respect its sovereignty and cannot take on the task of lecturing it,” Mattarella added.
In a post on X, Musk, who will head the “Department of Government Efficiency” in the future Donald Trump administration in the United States, said that the judges who blocked the deportation of migrants forced by Italy “should go”.
The criticism refers to rulings by the Rome Court that prevented the Italian government from holding Bangladeshi and Egyptian citizens in a repatriation center in the Albanian city of Gjader, a strategy aimed at discouraging migration flows in the Mediterranean.
The court ruled that Bangladesh and Egypt cannot be considered “safe” places for repatriation due to the history of persecution and disrespect for human rights in both countries, a stance that angered the Meloni administration and came under Musk’s radar.
“This is unacceptable.
Do the Italian people live in a democracy, or is it an unelected autocracy that makes the decisions?”, asked the billionaire on X this Wednesday, repeating a behavior already seen in the crisis with Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which culminated in the blocking of the social network in Brazil for more than a month.
Musk has been in touch with Meloni over the past week, following Trump's victory in the US election, and has already attended an event for the Italian prime minister's party. (HANDLE)
