EU interior ministers will hold an emergency meeting next Friday, 25 November, in Brussels to discuss policy on immigration questionafter the outbreak of the Franco-Italian diplomatic crisis over the reception of an NGO ship rescuing migrants at sea, the Czech Presidency of the European Council announced yesterday Thursday.

Rome’s refusal to allow the Ocean Viking with 230 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to dock, which was eventually taken over by France, provoked a crisis in relations with Paris. The French government called for “European initiatives” to “improve external border control (EU) and solidarity mechanisms.”

The Czech Presidency explained via Twitter that it had convened an “emergency interior council” during which “the ministers will discuss the current situation along all migration routes.”

Immigration remains a bone of contention for 27 countries. They remain divided over what solidarity mechanisms should be put in place to prevent front-line countries from accepting migrants and refugees, mostly from the Mediterranean.

The Member States of Central and Eastern Europe are hostile to any resettlement of migrants on their territory, and the Dublin Regulation stipulates that each asylum application is examined in the country in which the applicant entered the EU.

The issue of reforming the asylum rules, which has been paralyzed since 2015, border protection mechanisms and solidarity, is expected to be raised again at the emergency council for internal affairs next Friday, the European diplomat summed up AFP.

According to the same source, negotiations will focus on the EU’s policy on countries of origin and transit of migrants, as well as the role of NGOs that “operate human traffickers.”

“The tension between France and Italy creates a problem, we must neutralize it,” he added.

French government spokesman Olivier Veran called Italy’s refusal to welcome Ocean Viking “unacceptable”. He demanded that the European Union speak out “as soon as possible” about the “consequences” of this decision.

Announcing Paris’s decision to allow the ship to dock, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmamin said the French government had suspended the intake of 3,500 migrants currently in Italy in retaliation “with immediate effect”.

The head of Italy’s far-right coalition government, Giorgia Meloni, called for an “aggressive” and “unjustified” response, recalling that her country has taken in nearly 90,000 migrants since the start of the year.

Source: RES-IPE