Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Elon Musk on Wednesday not to interfere in internal affairsafter the American billionaire claimed that judges in Rome blocking a government initiative against immigration should be expelled.
The unusual statement by 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 have to go,” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to a group of Rome magistrates who had questioned the legality of a government initiative to detain asylum seekers in Albaniaa measure aimed at discouraging irregular immigration.
The decision of the magistrates forced a small group of immigrants who had just been transferred to Albania to be brought to Italycalling into question Meloni’s star plan to repress irregular arrivals.
Musk’s comment splashed across the front pages of Italian newspapers on Wednesday and came just hours before The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, will give him a prominent role with the aim of creating a more efficient government in that country.
“Italy is a great democratic country and (…) knows how to take care of itself”said Mattarella, who consistently tops opinion polls as Italy’s most respected leader.
“Anyone, particularly if, as announced, is about to take on an important governing role in a friendly and allied country, you must respect its sovereignty and cannot give yourself the task of giving instructions“.
There were no immediate comments from Musk on X, but just as Mattarella’s statement landed he returned to the immigration issuewriting: “Do the people of Italy live in a democracy or is it an unelected autocracy that makes the decisions?”
Although Meloni has not made any comments on his social media posts, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has welcomed his intervention. “@elonmusk is right,” he said on X on Tuesday.
The controversy revolves around a ruling handed down in October by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), according to which no nation of origin can be considered safe if only part of it is dangerous.a position that questions the Italian policy of trying to repatriate immigrants without visas to their countries of origin.
The ECJ ruling referred to a Czech case, but is valid for the entire European Union, and came when the Meloni government was building detention centers in Albania in charge of processing migrants picked up at sea when trying to reach Italy
