UK prime minister on first official visit to Italy.

British prime minister Keir Starmer is to meet Italian premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Monday to discuss tackling illegal immigration as well as support for Ukraine.

The midday meeting will reportedly see Starmer, leader of Britain's centre-left Labour party, learn about Italy's deal with Albania to send migrants there after they are rescued at sea.

The talks with Meloni, leader of the right-wing Fratelli d'Italia, come after Starmer pledged "a new era" in cross-border cooperation to tackle people smuggling gangs, Reuters reports.

Starmer has scrapped the previous government's plan to deport asylum seekers who arrive in the UK illegally to Rwanda but has expressed interest in hearing how Italy's migration scheme works.

In an attempt to curb illegal migration to Italy, Meloni signed a deal last year with her Albanian counterpart Edi Roma to transport asylum-seekers to Albania and process their asylum requests there.

Il Primo Ministro britannico @Keir_Starmer accolto oggi a Villa Doria Pamphilj dal Presidente del Consiglio @GiorgiaMeloni pic.twitter.com/PVBIRWPNLC

— UKinItalia (@UKinItalia) September 16, 2024

In addition to illegal immigration, Starmer and Meloni are set to discuss deepening economic ties and renewing support for Ukraine.

The talks in Rome come after eight people died at the weekend while crossing the English Channel in an attempt to reach the UK, French authorities said on Sunday.

Meanwhile on Saturday prosecutors in Palermo sought a six-year jail sentence for Italy's former interior minister and current deputy premier Matteo Salvini on charges of abduction and refusal to perform official duties, for his role in preventing the landing of 147 migrants saved by the NGO Open Arms five years ago.

In a post on X, Meloni expressed her "total solidarity" with her coalition partner Salvini, saying it was "incredible that a minister of the Italian Republic risks six years in prison for having carried out his job defending the borders of the nation."

Photo credit: Fred Duval / Shutterstock.com.