In recent years the European Union has increasingly moved border control beyond its own territory. The Italy-Albania agreement signed in November 2023 marks a significant step in this direction, introducing a new model of externalized migrant detention. Under the deal, the Albanian government has made two areas of its territory available to Italy – the port of Shëngjin and the remote mountain area of Gjadër. There, Italy has built and now manages two facilities for migrants intercepted while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Although located in Albania, the centres fall under Italian jurisdiction, effectively creating European-controlled zones outside the EU. Yet one year after opening, both centres remain largely empty.
By moving detention beyond its borders, Italy reduces legal scrutiny, media attention and public debate at home. This approach fits the agenda of Italy’s current far-right government, which has made tough anti-immigration policies a central part of its appeal. The Albanian government, meanwhile, accepted the deal in exchange for closer relations with Italy and the EU, and recognition as a strategic partner – despite being a country shaped by mass emigration, particularly to Italy in the 1990s after the fall of its communist regime.
