Maltese and Italian foreign ministers vow ‘coordinated’ migration stance
Italy’s foreign minister yesterday met with his Maltese counterpart Carmelo Abela following a clash over a migrant rescue boat that escalated into a European-wide showdown.
The Italian foreign ministry said that Italy’s Enzo Moavero Milanesi and Abela met yesterday in Rome and expressed “the shared desire to work together in tight coordination, especially in European capitals, about migration in terms of revising” EU asylum regulations.
Italy had initially insisted that Malta take in the Aquarius rescue ship and the 629 migrants onboard rescued in a series of operations last weekend.
Malta refused, saying it wasn’t involved in the rescue. Italy refused as well, leaving the migrants stranded at sea until Spain stepped up to take the Aquarius in.
The Aquarius is currently en route to Valencia, having changed course Thursday due to rough weather.
In a statement, the Maltese government said the two ministers, “reaffirmed their strong commitment to intensify the excellent and historical bilateral ties on various levels between the two countries.
“They underscored the opportunities for the further strengthening of such relations, in particular with regard to close coordination in the field of migration, both on a bilateral and well as a European level, in the context of the revision of the Dublin Regulation.”
Malta and Italy also reaffirmed their common will to deepen collaboration on matters of mutual and longstanding interest, the government said.
Earlier, Pope Francis said that the Gospel teaches that it’s wrong to leave migrants “at the mercy of the waves,” an apparent critique of Italy’s new migration policies.
The Pope made the comments Friday during an audience with Italian workers.
It was the second time in as many days that the Argentine Jesuit has referred to the plight of refugees after Italy’s decision to refuse entry to a rescue boat with 600 migrants aboard.
In his speech, Pope Francis lamented how many people in the world are excluded from work because of war or environmental degradation and said that those living comfortable lives should seek to help them.
The Gospel, he said, “teaches us and our world to not leave to the mercy of the waves those who leave their lands hungry for bread and justice.”
Italian and French leaders to pursue migration changes at EU level
French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte agreed Friday to work together to pursue changes to the European Union’s migration rules, finding common ground after the issue created a rift between their countries.
The two leaders said during a joint news conference that EU regulations requiring asylum-seekers to apply in the first country they enter and remain there while their cases are processed were not working.
Macron said the policy and others have left Italy, usually the first European country reached on the busy migration route across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa, without the support that is supposed to be a benefit of a united Europe.
“The proper response is European, but the existing European response has not adapted,” said the French leader, who is seen as strongly pro-EU.
Conte, who heads the populist, anti-EU government that took over running Italy on June 1, echoed the politician he called “my friend Emmanuel.”
“The concept itself of the ‘state of first entry’ must be rethought. He who puts his feet in Italy puts his feet in Europe,” said Conte, who was a law professor before he became premier.
They also both called for steps to beef up Europe’s borders to prevent illegal immigration.
Macron cited an initiative of his government last year to establish “protection missions” that prescreen asylum-seekers in Chad and Niger to prevent citizens of the two west African countries from risking the dangerous sea journey.
Conte said Italy is working on a proposal for a “radical paradigm change” in Europe’s approach to managing mass migration that includes creating “hotspots” in the most common countries of origin and departure to identify asylum candidates.
These “centres of European protection” would “anticipate and speedup identification and requests for asylum,” he said.
The meeting between Macron and Conte at the Elysee Palace in Paris almost did not take place after the president offered a harsh assessment of Italy’s refusal to accept a private rescue ship carrying 629 migrants. Macron accused the new Italian government of “cynicism” and “irresponsible” behaviour.
The migrants who were rescued last Saturday remained at sea Friday. Italy denied the Aquarius a place to dock, insisting it was Malta’s responsibility. After Malta also refused and pointed the ship toward Italy, Spain’s new Socialist prime minister offered the passengers safe harbour Monday. The Aquarius is currently en route to Valencia, where it is expected to arrive on Sunday.
Standing alongside Macron, Conte said it was “time to turn the page” on the diplomatic tensions over the ship and to tackle the larger migration quagmire.