Italy doubles down on anti-migrant stance ahead of EU summit

Italy doubled down Friday on its new tough stance against migrants, insisting it could not take "one more" refugee and warning the migration crisis could put the bloc's survival at stake.


Just two days before a mini summit on the issue in Brussels, Italy's three-week-old populist government is digging its heels in on campaign promises to stop the influx of migrants, threatening to seize rescue ships or barring them from its ports.

"We cannot take in one more person," hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told the German weekly Der Spiegel. "On the contrary: we want to send away a few."

Just two days before the informal talks - called by Berlin and being attended by some 16 EU leaders - Salvini, who is also Italy's deputy prime minister, warned that nothing less than the EU's future survival was at stake.

"Within a year it will be decided whether there will still be a united Europe or not," Salvini told Der Spiegel.
   [dailystar.com.lb/AFP]
 22/6/18
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