Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has attacked “aggressive” France for tearing up a refugee deal as a diplomatic row deepened over who should deal with migrant boats.
Paris accepted the Ocean Viking and the 234 migrants onboard – a first for a boatload from the Mediterranean – but in retaliation said it would suspend a previous plan to take in 3,500 refugees currently in Italy, and urged other EU nations to do the same.
French police have also been ordered to reinforce controls at Italian border crossings.
“I was very struck by the aggressive reaction of the French government, which is incomprehensible and unjustified,” Ms Meloni told a press conference in Rome.
Italy’s new leader rejected France’s claims that her new government was shirking its responsibilities to take migrants crossing the central Mediterranean.
On Thursday, the day France agreed to take in the 234 migrants, Italy accepted 600 migrants, most arriving on small boats, the latest in almost 90,000 so far this year, she remarked.
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“What is that made France so angry? Does it make them angry that Italy must be the only possible port for disembarkations in the Mediterranean?” added Ms Meloni.
“This is not written in any agreement… I believe it is not fair”.
She said “something is not working” in the European Union’s management of those who set off from North Africa trying to reach Europe.
“It is not intelligent to argue with France, Spain, Greece, Malta… I don’t want to do it, I want to find a common solution”, she said.
Source: yahoo
