The President of the Council and the President of the European Commission at the Favaloro pier and at the hotspot. Phone call between Macron and the prime minister. Piantedosi: “Occult direction? I have no proof but it’s strange that you arrive so concentrated”
It will be a visit of a few hours that of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen who will go to Lampedusa today 17 September upon invitation and together with the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to see first-hand the emergency that the island is experiencing in recent days , with seven landings in the last few hours alone and 2,500 migrants hosted in the hotspot.
The two leaders, who should arrive in Lampedusa mid-morning, will go to the Favaloro pier, besieged in recent days by the many independent landing boats seen waiting in line. In all likelihood they will then move to the hotspot. The two presidents will hold joint statements at 11.20 at the island’s airport, Palazzo Chigi announced.
On Friday the Prime Minister announced that she had written to the President of the EU Commission to invite her to go to Lampedusa. In this way she could “personally realize the gravity of the situation we face and immediately accelerate the realization of the agreement with Tunisia by transferring the agreed resources”.
MELONI-MACRON PHONE CALL
Meanwhile, yesterday, a telephone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Meloni revealed a statement from the Elysée, underlining that French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin will be in Italy “in the next few days” to meet his counterpart Matteo Piantedosi . “The President of the French Republic and the President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, discussed the joint action that could be undertaken in the central Mediterranean, the prevention of departures with the countries of origin and transit and, finally, the follow-up give to Europe under the Compact on Migration to respond to long-term irregular migration flows,” the statement said.
PIANTEDOSI
”I don’t have tangible proof but I usually make statements only if they are supported by evidence. Now, I don’t know why Minister Salvini said this but certainly in one day there was such a concentration of arrivals of small boats, which we know left from the Sfax area, that it is difficult to imagine that there was not possibility of controlling a very specific area with six thousand people on the beach and over 200 small boats ready to leave”. Thus the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi on the declarations of the deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini on an alleged hidden direction behind the arrivals.
Migrants, Piantedosi: “Naval blockade? No backtrack from Meloni”
SALVINI
“Certainly Europe” on migrants “in these weeks and months has been absent, distant, distracted, deaf, arrogant”, said Salvini on the sidelines of the Youth League assembly in Pontida. “We have another idea of Europe and tomorrow Marine Le Pen will come to tell the idea of Europe we have”, added Salvini.
“Giorgia Meloni” will be “in Lampedusa today, I will be in Pontida for the same objective” she explains. “Giorgia is working miracles” said Salvini, commenting on her visit to Lampedusa. “If the Germans and the French and the European government turn the other way, we have the right and the duty to protect our borders and our citizens, therefore, that Giorgia is in Lampedusa and that I welcome Marine Le Pen is absolutely part of the same objective”, said Salvini, assuring that “with Giorgia Meloni we have shared everything and we will share everything”.
GERMANY
Meanwhile, Germany has confirmed its intention not to accept, at least for the moment, migrants arriving from Italy through the voluntary solidarity mechanism. This was clarified by a spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry quoted by the Tagesspiegel. Talks to resume the reception of migrants from Italy ”could resume at any time”, but are not currently underway, the spokesperson added.
The statements made last night by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to the Ard broadcaster were therefore misunderstood, he explained. Regarding migrants arriving in Germany from Italy, the spokesperson for the Berlin Interior Ministry specified to Dpa that those who have already completed the procedure will be welcomed. Yesterday Faeser explained that the voluntary reception procedure had been suspended ”because Italy has not shown any willingness to take people back through the Dublin procedure”. Interviewed by the Ard broadcaster he added that ”it is clear that now we too Let’s fulfill our obligation of solidarity.”
Source-www.adnkronos.com