By Anne Kauranen
SAARISELKA, Finland (Reuters) – Russia poses a greater threat to the European Union's security than just security as Moscow could use illegal immigration and other issues to weaken the bloc, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni said on Sunday.
Finland hosted the leaders of Italy, Sweden and Greece, as well as the EU's foreign affairs chief, in its northern region of Lapland at the weekend to discuss security in the Nordic region and the Mediterranean, and migration challenges in southern Europe.
“We have to understand that the threat is much wider than we think,” Meloni, who leads the conservative government, told a press conference when asked about Russia.
The EU security threat from Russia or elsewhere cannot stop once the conflict in Ukraine is over and the EU must prepare for that, he said.
“It's about our democracy, it's about influencing our public opinion, about what's happening in Africa, about green tools, about migration tools. We need to know that it's a very broad view of security,” Meloni said.
He urged the EU to do more to protect its borders and not allow Russia or any other “criminal organization” to control the flow of illegal migrants.
Other EU members including Finland and Estonia have accused Russia of allowing illegal migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to enter EU countries through Russia without proper checks, undermining EU security.
Moscow has denied that Russia was deliberately pushing illegal migrants into the EU.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that protecting his country's 1,340-km (833 miles) border with Russia is an “existential question” for Finland and other EU members and NATO allies.
Meloni said the EU has been wrong to deal with immigration over the years in a burden-sharing manner.
“Confronting the issue of illegal immigration solely as a coalition-based debate was a mistake,” he said. “The result is that we have not been able to protect our borders… We want to protect our external borders and we will not allow Russia or criminal organizations to interfere with our security.”
While NATO remained the “cornerstone” of EU security, the bloc had to face broader challenges, Meloni said.
“Security means critical infrastructure, it means artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, raw materials, supply chains. It means a new and effective foreign policy and cooperation, it means immigration,” he said.