Debate over migrants divides Europeans on eve of summit

BRUSSELS — With another migrant rescue ship stranded in the Mediterranean and both Italy and Malta again refusing to let it dock, European Union leaders will try to find common ground for tackling a growing political crisis that is threatening to undermine the entire EU

The leaders of 16 countries — more than half the 28-nation bloc — will take part in what is being billed as “informal talks” here today ahead of a full EU summit Thursday and Friday, where migration will top the agenda.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the meeting involves “talking with particularly affected nations about all problems connected with mi- gration.” She said the hope is to see if “we can reach bi-, tri- or even multinational agreements to better solve certain problems.”

The arrival of more than 1 million people in 2015, most fleeing wars in Syria and Iraq, exposed glaring deficiencies in EU migrant reception capacities and asylum laws. It has fueled tensions among EU nations and anti-migrant parties have won votes in Europe by inciting public fears of foreigners.

“These rescue ships can forget about reaching Italy,” that nation’s new firebrand interior minister, Matteo Salvini, said Saturday as he assured his anti-migrant base that he would “crush” the human trafficking business.

At the heart of the problem are deep divisions over who should take responsibility for arriving migrants — often Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Greece and increasingly. Spain — how long they should be required to accommodate them and what should be done to help those EU countries hardest hit.

The problem was crystalized recently in a row between Italy’s new populist government, Malta and France over who should take responsibility for 630 people rescued from the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, the main departure point for people trying to reach Europe.

Amid the mudslinging, Spain’s new Socialist government agreed to take charge of the migrants, and the ship eventually made a weeklong voyage to Valencia.

On Saturday, Spain also announced that it had rescued 569 more migrants at sea, many from boats in the Strait of Gibraltar, a busy shipping lane with treacherous currents.

But another rescue ship, the Lifeline of the German NGO Mission Lifeline, was stranded in the Mediterranean off Malta after both Italy and Malta refused to let it dock with its 234 migrants. Lifeline said a merchant vessel, the Alexander Maersk, had an additional 113 migrants and was also waiting for a port to receive them.