PARIS - France’s minister for European affairs said international law obliged Italy to let the stranded migrant rescue vessel Lifeline dock in an Italian port and that Rome was in no position to tell Paris how to behave.
With more than 230 migrants on board, the MV Lifeline is stuck in international waters in the Mediterranean sea, the second rescue ship in weeks to expose Europe’s deep divisions over how to share refugees and economic migrants.
The standoff comes as European leaders on Sunday failed to find a solution to the migration crisis, which has weakened EU unity, threatens to unravel Germany’s coalition government and undermined Europe’s Schengen free-travel area.
Ahead of Sunday’s mini-summit, Rome accused Emmanuel Macron of “arrogance”, with Interior Minister Matteo Salvini urging the French president to show some “generosity” in its immigration policy.(FA)
