webfact Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Italy and Germany clash as migration rows split EU By Gabriela Baczynska and Crispian Balmer German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrive for a news conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, June 18, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke BRUSSELS/ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday a draft EU accord on migration had been withdrawn after he clashed with Chancellor Angela Merkel over an issue that is splitting Europe. The leaders of four central European states, meanwhile, confirmed they would boycott an EU mini-summit on migration, taking a veiled swipe at Merkel by accusing countries of pushing the issue for domestic political reasons. The withdrawn declaration had been drafted ahead of an emergency meeting of 10 EU leaders set for Sunday in Brussels, with Germany and France hoping for a swift deal that could be approved at a full EU summit at the end of next week. It contained key elements Merkel needs to placate her rebellious coalition partner, the Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU) and its head, Horst Seehofer, who is also Germany's interior minister. But Rome objected to provisions that said asylum seekers would have to be returned to the EU country they had first logged their claim in, which often means Italy. Rome has taken in some 650,000 boat migrants over the past five years, stoking anti-immigration sentiment in Italy and fueling the rise of the far-right League, which forged a coalition government this month. Conte, who had threatened not to go to Brussels on Sunday unless the draft was amended, spoke to Merkel on Thursday. 'MISUNDERSTANDING' "The chancellor clarified that there had been a 'misunderstanding'. The draft text released yesterday will be shelved," Conte wrote on Facebook, adding that he would now go to Brussels at the weekend. Berlin played down the dispute. "We are in constructive talks with Italy. The meeting on Sunday has only preparatory character," a German government source said. Italian authorities appeared to relent on Thursday after at first refusing to accept 226 migrants on board a German rescue ship, saying later in the day they would take them in but impound the vessel. Anti-immigrant interior minister Matteo Salvini initially said the Dutch-flagged Lifeline should take the people it had plucked from the Mediterranean to the Netherlands, not Italy. But transport minister Danilo Toninelli, who oversees the coastguard, later said it was unsafe for the 32-metre vessel to travel so far with so many people on board. EU states have been at loggerheads over migration since arrivals spiked in 2015, when more than one million migrants reached its shores across the Mediterranean. There have been 41,000 sea arrivals so far this year, data shows. Most are in coastal states of arrival like Italy and Greece, or rich destination states like Germany and Sweden, where governments have felt heat from voters over the new arrivals. EU states to the east are refusing to take migrants in. Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday hosted a meeting of the "Visegrad 4" former Communist countries, with the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The four confirmed they would not attend the Sunday talks. "We understand there are domestic political difficulties in some countries but that cannot lead to pan-European haste," Orban said. "We understand that there will ... be a mini-summit on Sunday but we would like to state clearly that the prime ministers of V4 agreed that they will not go to that." Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the four states spoke "with one voice" on the migrant issue. "Let's just say we don't belong to this migrant-loving group of friends, and neither do we want to partake," he said. "NO GUANTANAMO" Unless all EU states agree at their looming June 28-29 summit to share out asylum seekers more evenly, Seehofer has threatened to introduce an entry ban on the German border for all those who have already registered for asylum elsewhere. Merkel opposes that idea as it would require rigid checks on the EU's mostly open internal borders. Many would see such checks as reversing a key success story of European integration. Hence, she asked other EU states to hold extra talks this Sunday and agree to do more on migration in the hope that would be enough to convince Seehofer not to go it alone. With an eye on further curbing arrivals, the bloc's top migration official, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said separately on Thursday EU states should make asylum assistance uniform to discourage refugees from moving between member states. He said the EU should also work more with Africa, tighten borders further and explore setting up bases outside its territory where it would decide on asylum requests before claimants make it to EU soil, and hold them there if they were rejected. Critics have long said such a plan could violate international humanitarian law. But Avramopoulos said such bases would not be "Guantanamo Bay for migrants", in a reference to the widely-condemned U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, set up to hold terrorism suspects. (Additional reporting by Marton Dunai, Krisztina Than, Steve Scherer and Angelo Amante; Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Andrew Roche) -- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-22 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sweatalot Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the four states spoke "with one voice" on the migrant issue. "Let's just say we don't belong to this migrant-loving group of friends, and neither do we want to partake," he said. A voice of common sense 11 minutes ago, webfact said: He said the EU should also work more with Africa, tighten borders further and explore setting up bases outside its territory where it would decide on asylum requests before claimants make it to EU soil, and hold them there if they were rejected. sounds like common sense, too 15 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Renegade Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 20 minutes ago, webfact said: Italy and Germany clash as migration rows split EU 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bert bloggs Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 Its only those in charge who are split , most of the residents of the E.U do not want the immigrants .,as for "genuine refugees" ,why do they not just go to the nearest country ,but trek all over the place to get to Britain and Germany etc .? 16 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post taipan1949 Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 This woman has single highhandedly destroyed most of Europe with her stupid open borders. Thank God there are now quite a few countries that have realized the folly of trying to live with muslims in peace. I always loved Thailand even though I had to jump through immigration hoops for over 30 years and now I am doing the hoop jumps here in the Philippines and have no problem with a country keeping track of its "guests". I lived in China and Cuba and had to do the same. My respect for countries that protect it's borders. 19 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post the guest Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 EU is becoming a mess and certainly a laughing stock of the world. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nausea Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 2 hours ago, bert bloggs said: ,why do they not just go to the nearest country ,but trek all over the place to get to Britain and Germany etc .? I assume that's a rhetorical question. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mercman24 Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 its all too late, they are here, and setting up their no go areas in cities throughout europe, MERKEL what a waste of space she is,, she and TONY BLAIR need to share a prison cell, and talk about how they have ruined their countries 12 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Baerboxer Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 1 hour ago, mercman24 said: its all too late, they are here, and setting up their no go areas in cities throughout europe, MERKEL what a waste of space she is,, she and TONY BLAIR need to share a prison cell, and talk about how they have ruined their countries Islam is the fastest growing religion. But it is really also a religious political ideology. And that suits certain politically correct politicians who see it as an ally going forward to their visions for Europe. Part of that is exploiting the decline in Christianity, influence of the established church, and the tolerance of Europeans. Now small backlashes are springing up. But the answer to that, as we see in the UK is more legal protection for the Muslim immigrants and less for the traditional citizens. Somehow, this doesn't seem likely to end well. 10 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post The Renegade Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 Quote A working meeting on Sunday of the leaders of several EU states, including Germany, France and Italy, on migrant policy will not produce a declaration but is more an opportunity to exchange views, a German government spokeswoman said on Friday. “I do not want to anticipate the results of the meeting,” said the spokeswoman at a regular government news conference. “It is an opportunity to look at what might be possible on a bilateral level and on a multilateral level, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-germany/germany-plays-down-expectations-of-results-at-sunday-eu-migrant-talks-idUSKBN1JI13T?il=0 You were never going to get a result when about half the EU Countries were not invited. This was about trying to save Merkel's bacon but it will backfire spectacularly. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post citybiker Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 Own goal for Merkel, how long can this woman survive with her autocratic political style?Well done Conte, it’s going to be a rather interesting and uncomfortable summit for some at the end of the month.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ulic Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 For Italy a short-term solution is simple. Don't register asylum seekers as they land. Provide them with a one-way ticket to Germany, a two-day picknick lunch and 50 Euro cash to spend on incidentals. They can file their refugee applications directly with Angela Merkel. 3 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post AgMech Cowboy Posted June 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2018 The USA has been plagued by illegal immigration for years. I don't understand the people in the USA that whinge on about how it's wrong not to accept them with open arms. There are very legal ways for people to immigrate, but they don't/won't to wait on the process. It is sad, but nothing in life is fair and; although, Thailand's immigration laws seem tough, it's really what's needed the world over. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citybiker Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 Over 30 years ago we went to live in a nice town.it had two small immigrant communities one from Jamaica and one from Pkistan etc.they never really got on and over the years the " people of colour" must be pc[emoji4] moved away from where the Muslims lived and integrated.I was back there a couple of years ago .much of it was like Pakistan women in black robes mosques all over the place. Also there seemed to be in all the town centre hardly anyone who spoke English half the shops had foreign languages in the windows it was not like the Town i moved to all those years ago. Britain as we knew it is dead thanks to mass immigration. As i fear are many countrys in Europe.thanks to the likes of Blair and Merkal.still they have become rich of the EU. So why should they care Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app I don't believe the UK is dead due to mass immigration, there are currently worse countries however ensuring the country is better controlled and managed is priority. Subsequent governments have continually ignored & failed this issue at their own peril, thus now it's at the forefront those very people within the political establishment can now focus on fixing what others were too scared or spineless to discuss, for the fear of being branded racists. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron19 Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 Off topic post removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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