FILE PHOTO: Italian President Sergio Mattarella attends a press conference with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin, Germany, September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo
ROME (Reuters) - President Sergio Mattarella told Elon Musk on Wednesday not to interfere in Italian affairs after the U.S. billionaire said Rome judges blocking a government anti-immigration initiative should be sent packing.
The highly unusual statement from the Italian head of state came against a backdrop of growing tension between the ruling coalition and the judiciary that has attracted the attention of Musk, who is a friend of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
"These judges need to go," Musk wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to a panel of Rome magistrates who had questioned the legality of a government initiative to detain asylum-seekers in Albania -- a measure aimed at discouraging irregular immigration.
The magistrates' move meant a small group of migrants just taken to Albania had to be brought to Italy, casting doubt on Meloni's flagship plan to crackdown on irregular arrivals.
Musk's comment was splashed on the front pages of Italian newspapers on Wednesday and came just hours before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had given him a leading role aimed at creating more efficient government in the United States.
"Italy is a great democratic country and ... knows how to take care of itself," said Mattarella, who consistently tops opinion polls as the most respected leader in Italy.
"Anyone, particularly if, as announced, he is about to assume an important role of government in a friendly and allied country, must respect its sovereignty and cannot give himself the task of issuing it instructions."
There was no immediate comment from Musk on X, but just as Mattarella's statement landed, he returned to the migration issue, writing: "Do the people of Italy live in a democracy or does an unelected autocracy make the decisions?"
While Meloni has not made any comment on his social media posts, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has welcomed his intervention. "@elonmusk is right," he said on X on Tuesday.
EU COURT AT CENTRE STAGE
The controversy revolves around an October ruling by the EU's Court of Justice (ECJ), which said that no nation of origin could be considered safe if even just a part of it was dangerous -- a position that called into question Italy's policy of trying to repatriate visa-less migrants to their home countries.
The ECJ ruling referred to a Czech case but holds for the whole European Union and landed as Meloni's government was building detention centres in Albania tasked with processing migrants picked up at sea as they tried to reach Italy.
The centres are meant to fast-track repatriations, but the Rome court said this should not happen before the ECJ provides further clarification.
As a result the two small groups of migrants taken to Albania in the past three weeks have been almost immediately transferred to Italy, leaving the scheme in legal limbo.
Italy's supreme court is due to review the legality of the Rome court move in early December, but the final word is likely to remain with the ECJ, legal experts say.
An ECJ official said on Wednesday the Luxembourg-based court could take months to clarify whether Italy can legally repatriate migrants to countries that it deems safe, such as Egypt, Tunisia and Bangladesh.
Latest official ECJ data shows it takes on average 16.1 months to reach a ruling, although this time could be cut if the court decided to fast track proceedings.
The official, who declined to be named, said this was "very feasible" given the huge attention generated by the affair, but even then, it would take weeks for an opinion to be released.
(Writing by Crispian Balmer, Editing by William Maclean)
