Italy has experienced a 64 percent decrease in illegal immigration since conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took charge in October of 2022, according to the country's foreign minister. Meloni has made tackling immigration a focus of hers by going after smugglers and working with neighboring countries to halt the flow of migrants into Italy.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Fox News on Sunday: "It’s not easy. We’ve worked hard to achieve this goal. We are very happy for this. We are not against legal immigration, rather against illegal immigration. Human traffickers are the most important part of crime. They are human traffickers, weapon traffickers, drug traffickers. They [belong to] the same organization, but we need to be very strong and to fight against these organizations, and we are doing it."

"We are working with an agreement with Tunisia, with Egypt, with Libya. We are working with the North African countries for reducing the boats coming … [and] fighting against the crime," he added. This crackdown has surprisingly drawn praise and respect from the UK's left-wing Prime Minister Kier Starmer.

"You’ve made remarkable progress working with countries along migration routes as equals to address the drivers of migration at source and to tackle the gangs. And as a result, irregular arrivals to Italy by sea are down 60 percent since 2022. I’m pleased that we’re deepening our cooperation here," Starmer stated last week in a joint press conference in Rome, per Politico.

Meloni had spoken with Fox News last year, emphasizing the need to "fight the traffickers," she said, adding "What the traffickers are doing is incredible. These organizations are always becoming more powerful, and they use their power and the money they [have] against the state. We cannot allow a mafia to decide who's coming into our countries."