Mattarella signs security decree

(ANSA) - Rome, October 4 - President Sergio Mattarella's office said in a statement on Thursday that the head of State has signed the government's decree on security and immigration.
    It said that the president also sent a letter to Premier Giuseppe Conte stating that "Constitutional and international State obligations" remain.
    Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, the architect of the decree, hailed the president's signature, saying in Milanese dialect: "Mattarella has signed, take it and bring it home!".
    He added: "We'll respect the Constitution but we won't be made fools of".
    Deputy Premier Salvini had a meeting with Mattarella on Wednesday to discuss the former's decree on migration and security.
    Among other things, the decree will extend the scope to deny or revoke international protection status for people who have committed serious crimes and makes it possible for migrants to be expelled following a first-instance conviction. "It marked the closure of a path that was agreed on by everyone," Salvini said Thursday, describing the meeting as "cordial and positive" and saying the decree had been "fine tuned".
    "No decree has ever been studied and accompanied like this one on security and immigration.
    "But it's right that it should be this way with such a n important issue".