France, Italy agree on migrants

ROME: The European Union must introduce a new, automatic system of taking in migrants saved from the Mediterranean, the leaders of Italy and France said yesterday.

The volume of migrants crossing to Europe has caused particular tensions between Rome and Paris, Italy complaining that French nongovernmental organisations have been instrumental in rescuing migrants but France has not done enough to help take them in.

But French President Emmanuel Macron has leapt on the fact that a new, proEuropean government has taken office in Italy to try to reset ties and resolve the row.

‘‘I do not underestimate what Italy has been experiencing since 2015. It has also suffered many misunderstandings and injustices,’’ Macron told reporters in Rome, standing alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

‘‘I am convinced that an automatic European mechanism is needed for the reception of immigrants.’’

Conte said he had received French backing for a system to redistribute migrants, meaning Italy could rely on the entire EU to automatically accept a share of all the new arrivals as soon as they were rescued.

Macron said EU countries that refused to take part in the scheme should be ‘‘seriously penalised’’.

The pair did not provide further details, saying only that the issue would soon be discussed by EU interior ministers.

‘‘The issue of immigration must no longer fuel antiEuropean propaganda,’’ Conte said, referring to his previous coalition partner, the farright League. — Reuters