On Monday, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told his EU counterparts that the migrant issue was European problem, amid a spat with France over a French NGO rescue ship that was redirected to Toulon after Rome refused to allow it to dock.
“Italy put the problem of migration on the table, it’s a European problem, not one for Italy or France (alone),” Tajani told reporters after the ministerial meeting.
“I reiterated that for us, the problem must be faced at an EU level”.
“The tones today were not ones of fracture. I think there was a will by all to try to find a European solution,” he continued.
These comments accompanied the announcement that Italy will assess the issue of NGO run migrant rescue ships heading for Italy on a case-by-case basis following the SOS Méditerranée blow up.
“It is not that there is a rule, NGOs must respect certain rules, we must see case by case, each fact is different from the other,” he told reporters.
“You have to gather the information and see in detail.”
“As far as relocation agreements are concerned, we are sticking to maintaining the rules that are waiting for better rules,” he added.
Rome has said that some NGO ships break international laws.
