Italy has asked for time to consider the compromise proposal put forward by Germany on the European Pact on migrants presented during the meeting of interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
Rome’s request could lengthen the timeframe of the European understanding of crisis regulation included in the Pact, and according to several European sources, the agreement expected at the Permanent Representatives meeting is likely to slip.
“We have not said no to the German proposal presented this morning, the Interior Minister has only taken time to examine from a legal point of view the contents of this proposal, but this does not mean thinking that people should not be saved at sea,” said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The clause wanted by Berlin concerns, in particular, humanitarian aid, protections for migrants and the exclusion of rescues by NGO ships from situations of instrumentalisation of migration that would activate the emergency flows.
On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) met with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin to discuss the issue and map out a joint plan of action.
“No one is waging war on NGOs, however, they cannot be a sort of magnet to attract irregular migrants who, as it happens, are always and only brought to Italy because it is the closest port”, Tajani said.
The minister therefore took a step back from the fight against NGOs that the Italian government had initiated by passing the “NGOs decree”, which among other things allowed ships to be assigned alternative ports of disembarkation to those in Sicily, which are more distant and difficult to reach.
“NGO ships can do rescue at sea, but Italy cannot be turned into the place where all the NGOs bring migrants,” the minister said, adding that migrants often do not want to stay in Italy but rather reach other European countries.
“Every human life counts. So many people are rescued and almost 95% of the rescued people who arrive in Italy are thanks to the ships of the Italian authorities. This is a very important humanitarian activity for which we are grateful. However, those who do rescues at sea voluntarily with civilian ships also make a contribution and their activity therefore has our support,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
“We will not leave individual European states alone. Our common goal is that people don’t leave on those rickety boats either, and so we have to work with the countries of origin, also to facilitate the repatriations of those who have no right to stay,” the minister reassured at a joint press conference in Berlin.
(Federica Pascale | Euractiv.it)
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