The diplomatic crisis between Italy and France over a migrant rescue ship that ended up in Toulon after Rome refused it access is already over, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Tuesday.
Answering a questions regarding the ship spat in in Brusslels, Crosetto said:
“I think that the crisis with France has already ended” and that in upcoming meetings at the EU level “there will be no difficulty for Italy.”
Crosetto also added that the EU's newly proposed Sophia Mission, devised with aims to address migrant rescue and border control, was important for Mediterranean security.
When asked if Italy is in favour of a Sophia mission, Crosetto replied:
"Italy thinks that the Mediterranean is a place that needa to be better and better guarded, for the importance it has economically, strategically, from all points of view.
“We are a nation that lives the Mediterranean more than any other ― any European or international mission for the security of the Mediterranean, is of vital importance to us."
Crosetto was speaking with reporters at the end of the Defense Affairs Council, on the sidelines of which he had a quadrilateral meeting with Greece, Cyprus and France precisely regarding the security of the Mediterranean.
