Italy's Meloni says security threat posed by Russia is far-reaching

Russia poses a bigger threat to European Union security than just defence as Moscow can use illegal immigration and other issues to undermine the bloc, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday.

Finland hosted the leaders of Italy, Sweden and Greece, as well as the EU foreign affairs chief, in its northern Lapland region at the weekend to discuss security in the Nordic region and the Mediterranean, as well as migration challenges in southern Europe.

"We have to understand the threat is much wider than we imagine," Meloni, who leads a conservative government, told a press conference when asked about Russia.

The danger to EU security from Russia or from elsewhere would not stop once the Ukraine conflict ended and the EU must be prepared for that, she said.

"It's about our democracy, it's about influencing our public opinion, it's about what happens in Africa, it's about raw materials, it's about the instrumentalisation of migration. We need to know it's a very wide idea of security," Meloni said.

She urged the EU to do more to protect its borders and not let Russia or any "criminal organisation" steer the flows of illegal migrants.

Some EU members including Finland and Estonia have accused Russia of allowing illegal migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to enter EU states via Russia without proper checks, undermining the EU's security.

Moscow has denied Russia was deliberately pushing illegal migrants into the EU.

While NATO remained "the cornerstone" of EU security, the bloc had to tackle wider challenges, Meloni said.

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