EC closely monitoring Rome-Tirana deal says VDL

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 23 - The European Commission is closely monitoring Italy's innovative and controversial accord with Albania to process migrants at two Italian-run centres in the Balkan country, President Ursula von der Leyen said in Tirana Wednesday.
    "We have been very clear from the beginning: we said that we would monitor very carefully the developments related to the agreement between Italy and Albania, we are talking about a bilateral agreement, so we will not comment on it, but we will monitor its development", said von der Leyen, who has gone on record as holding up the scheme as a possible model for others, in a press conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama. (ANSA).