Musk condemned the rulings in social media posts on X. First, Musk posted on Tuesday that “these judges need to go.” Then, on Wednesday, followed up with more criticism of the court rulings.

“This is unacceptable,” Musk posted. “Do the people of Italy live in a democracy or does an unelected autocracy make the decisions?”

Mattarella did not take too kindly to Musk’s comments. 

“Italy is a great democratic country, and I must reiterate, with the words used on another occasion, on 7 October 2022, that ‘it knows how to take care of itself while respecting its Constitution,’” Mattarella said. “Anyone, particularly if, as announced, they are about to assume an important government role in a friendly and allied country, must respect its sovereignty and cannot assume the task of giving it prescriptions.”

The controversy stems from a court in Rome essentially refusing to comply with the agreement Meloni established with Albania. A Roman court ruled against detaining seven migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh in Albania. After initially being sent to Albania for processing, the migrants were returned to Italy on Monday due to the court’s ruling. 

Meloni’s agreement with Albania stipulated that migrants seeking to enter Italy would be first sent to Albania to be screened, detained, and processed before being granted admission into Italy. As part of the agreement, Italy listed several countries where migrants can be denied asylum because such countries are considered “safe.” Egypt and Bangladesh were among those countries.

However, the European Court of Justice ruled that no country should be considered safe unless all regions and minority groups are considered safe. Given the turmoil in each country, this nullified such a classification for Egypt and Bangladesh. The decision put the court in direct conflict with Meloni’s initiatives and agreement. Meloni’s government plans to challenge the ruling. 

“The Government does not agree with the sentences, we will challenge them and will continue the project of protecting the [EU’s] external borders,” said Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove, an MP with the Brothers of Italy party and justice undersecretary in a statement. “We were elected to fight irregular immigration and dismantle the inhuman slave trade along the Mediterranean, and we will not give up.”

Musk later expressed his respect for Italy’s president and the nation’s constitution. However, he also emphasized that he has a right to freedom of speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment. He also cited rules in Italy’s constitution that specified the protection of freedom of expression. 

“The entrepreneur emphasizes that freedom of expression is protected by the First Amendment and by the Italian Constitution itself, therefore as a citizen he will continue to freely express his opinions,” said Andrew Stroppa, Musk’s representative in Italy.