Italy's president sharply rebukes Elon Musk over comments on X about migration court rulings

ROME (AP) — Italian President Sergio Mattarella sharply rebuked Elon Musk on Wednesday for weighing in on Italian court rulings that have stymied the government’s plans to process some asylum-seekers in Albania.

Musk, who is expected to have a top advisory role in Donald Trump’s new administration, wrote Tuesday on X that “these judges need to go.” He was referring to the latest Italian court ruling against right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni’s much-touted Albania immigration deal.

“This is unacceptable. Do the people of Italy live in a democracy or does an unelected autocracy make the decisions?” he wrote in a subsequent post Wednesday.

The posts concerned a Rome court's refusal to rule on a formal request to detain seven migrants rescued at sea and transferred to Albania for processing. Monday's ruling resulted in the men being brought to Italy for processing.

Mattarella didn’t cite Musk by name but — in an unusually piqued statement — made clear on Wednesday that he was referring to him. Italy's head of state demanded respect for the country's sovereignty, especially from other soon-to-be public officials.

“Italy is a great democratic country and … knows how to take care of itself while respecting its Constitution,” Mattarella said in a statement issued by his spokesman.

“Anyone, particularly if as announced is about to assume an important role of government in a friendly and allied country, must respect its sovereignty and cannot attribute to himself the task of imparting prescriptions,” the statement said.

Trump announced Tuesday that Musk, one of the most influential people around the U.S. president-elect, would help lead a Department of Government Efficiency, essentially an independent advisory panel to eliminate waste and fraud.

Musk is a supporter of Meloni and has met with her in Rome on a few occasions, and in September joined her at an awards ceremony on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Photos of them together made such news that Musk seemingly felt the need to tamp down speculation by posting “We are not dating.”

Musk has a history of making provocative statements and sparring with leaders on X. Earlier this year, he posted messages insulting U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and saying the United Kingdom was headed for civil war. He has also clashed with a Brazilian supreme court justice over free speech, far-right accounts and purported misinformation on X, and also accused Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, of “major election fraud” after that country’s disputed election.

Later Wednesday, an Italian representative of X, Andrea Stroppa, tweeted what appeared to be a statement from Musk that said he had spoken during the day with Meloni. According to Stroppa's tweet, Musk “expresses his respect” for Mattarella and the Italian Constitution but insists on his right to freedom of expression.

The courts’ rulings have raised the ire of Meloni’s far-right-led government, which has been seeking strategies to ease the strain on Italy of the arrival of migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The government had held up the opening of the Albanian centers as a centerpiece of its immigration crackdown, also as a means of deterrence, and said they could be a model for Europe.

In both cases, Italian courts referred the cases to the EU court of justice in Luxembourg to rule if the countries of origin for the migrants are considered safe for repatriation. There is no word on when the European court might rule.

But as a result of the Rome court decisions, no migrant has yet been processed in the Albanian centers, which are budgeted to cost Italy 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years to build and operate.

Italy's opposition says the money could be much better spent on reinforcing Italian-operated migrant processing centers, while human rights groups say the outsourcing of asylum processing contravenes international law.

The centers opened in October after a months-long delay, because crumbling soil at one of the facilities needed to be repaired. They are run by Italy and are under the country's jurisdiction, while Albanian guards provide external security.

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk listens as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy, right, addresses journalists at the end of the Arraiolos Group meeting in Porto, Portugal, Oct. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Miguel Angelo Pereira, File)

CORRECTS TO PRIME MINISTER, NOT PRESIDENT - FILE - Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, right, presents Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with an award during the Global Citizen Awards dinner, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Michelle Farsi, File)

FILE - Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy, right, addresses journalists at the end of the Arraiolos Group meeting in Porto, Portugal, Oct. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Miguel Angelo Pereira, File)

FILE - Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, right, presents Italy's President Giorgia Meloni with an award during the Global Citizen Awards dinner, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Michelle Farsi, File)

Italy's president sharply rebukes Elon Musk over comments on X about migration court rulings

Italy's president sharply rebukes Elon Musk over comments on X about migration court rulings

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk listens as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

TURIN, Italy (AP) — New Zealand dominated Italy everywhere except the scoreboard in a tour-ending 29-11 win in autumn rugby on Saturday.

The All Blacks wanted to sign off 2024 in style and send off departing stalwarts Sam Cane and TJ Perenara with a flourish after five weeks in Yokohama, London, Dublin, Paris and Turin.

But Italy, humiliated by the All Blacks 96-17 last year at the Rugby World Cup, gave a passionate, committed effort to restrict New Zealand to its lowest score in this matchup in 15 years.

New Zealand was held to 17-6 until the last 10 minutes when it conjured tries for backs Mark Tele'a and Beauden Barrett while Italy was down to 14 men.

But those tries were split by Italy's one and only try, to Tommaso Menoncello served up by his center partner Juan Ignacio Brex.

New Zealand carried for more than twice as many meters, beat 31 defenders, but suffered from 18 handling errors, only one more than Italy.

Italy saved its best for last this autumn after being thrashed by Argentina and struggling past Georgia.

The Italians, privileged to play the first non-football match in a sold-out Juventus Stadium, were on it from the outset, and Paolo Garbisi and Beauden Barrett traded penalties.

Moments after All Blacks captain Scott Barrett was sin-binned for a dangerous clearout, scrumhalf Cam Roigard snuck through the middle of Italy's ruck defense for the first try in the 24th minute.

Monty Ioane typified Italy's defense when he made a try-saving tackle on Will Jordan from behind, got up, and made another try-saver on Wallace Sititi, forcing a forward pass.

But Jordan typified the All Blacks' class, as Italy ran out of defenders and his 38th try in 41 tests passed Jonah Lomu on their all-time try-scoring list.

After the All Blacks survived Italy's siege of their try-line after halftime — though repeated fouls saw center Anton Lienert-Brown sin-binned — Italy then repelled 16 phases by New Zealand at the expense of replacement prop Simone Ferrari's yellow card for too many fouls, too.

Ferrari helped the All Blacks, but they also got a lift from their bench, notably from Perenara, who had led his last All Blacks haka. As he came on, fellow World Cup winner Cane departed to wide applause after his 104th and last test.

Italy's defense led by No. 8 Ross Vintcent with 21 tackles and Menoncello's 14 continued to swarm while a man down, but the All Blacks ruthlessly exploited the advantage to give the scoreline a flattering look.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

New Zealand perform the haka head of the Autumn Nations Series rugby union match between Italy and the All Blacks at the Allianz stadium, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

New Zealand's Will Jordan, left, and Italy's Ange Capuozzo compete for the ball during the Autumn Nations Series rugby union match between Italy and the All Blacks at the Allianz stadium, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

New Zealand's Mark Tele'a makes a break during the Autumn Nations Series rugby union match between Italy and the All Blacks at the Allianz stadium, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

New Zealand's Caleb Clarke runs at the defence during the Autumn Nations Series rugby union match between Italy and the All Blacks at the Allianz stadium, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

New Zealand's Will Jordan is tackled by Italy's Monty Ioane during the Autumn Nations Series rugby union match between Italy and the All Blacks at the Allianz stadium, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)