MILAN: Italy pressured the Netherlands on Friday to accept 47 migrants, including eight unaccompanied minors, who have spent seven days at sea aboard a humanitarian rescue ship that has been allowed to enter Italian territorial waters due to bad weather conditions.
The German aid group Sea-Watch tweeted that it has received no response to multiple requests for the Dutch-flagged Sea Watch-3 vessel carrying people rescued off Libya on Saturday to access a port. The boat was permitted to enter Italian waters Friday because of deteriorating weather conditions, and the Italian coast guard said it was just off Syracuse, Sicily, flanked by coast guard and financial police boats.
Italy and Malta, the closest EU nations, have both refused to allow entry to rescue vessels operated by humanitarian groups in what they say is a bid to discourage smuggler boats from departing Libya by diminishing the prospect of rescue.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters in Rome that he sent a letter to the government in the Netherlands officially requesting that they organize landings for the migrants “aboard this vessel that waves a Dutch flag.”
Dutch Migration Minister Mark Harbers said that without the prospect of such a comprehensive solution to how to process migrants rescued at sea that the Netherlands “will not take part in ad-hoc measures.” He added that the ship flying the Dutch flag doesn’t oblige the Netherlands to take action.
European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker’s spokesman said that the commission is in touch with member states, and was watching the events closely.
“Our position is clear: The safety of the people on board must be our first concern and priority. What is urgently needed in the Mediterranean are predictable arrangements to ensure disembarkations of rescued persons can take place safely,” spokesman Margaritis Schinas said.
A similar impasse was resolved last month when Malta allowed two to disembark 49 migrants two NGO-operated vessels, including Sea-Watch 3, after the EU brokered a deal to distribute the migrants among eight EU nations.
UNICEF’s spokesman in Italy, Andrea Iacomini, lamented the frequency of such stand offs.
“Is it possible that Europe enters into a sort of humanitarian paralysis every three days for dozens of human beings, including children, without coming up with a structural and shared solution,” Iacomini said. “I hope that European governments find a speedy agreement for a humanitarian solution that offers a safe port to the eight unaccompanied minors on the Sea-Watch. A child is a child, not a hostage.”
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47 migrants stranded off Sicily as Italy refuses entry
47 migrants stranded off Sicily as Italy refuses entry
Zelensky defends Ukrainian athlete’s helmet at Games after IOC ban
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has defended a Winter Olympian’s right to wear a helmet featuring athletes killed during the war with Russia after skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said the IOC banned it at the Games.
Heraskevych wore the helmet during a training session in Cortina and had intended to use the Games in Italy to help maintain international pressure on Russia.
The 27-year-old said in a social media post on Monday that the International Olympic Committee had banned his custom helmet — which has portraits of Ukrainian athletes killed since Russia’s 2022 invasion — from training and competition.
The IOC has yet to publicly confirm that.
Heraskevych, who was Ukraine’s flag bearer, said the decision “simply breaks my heart.”
The skeleton racer said he would submit an official request to the IOC and continue to seek permission to use the helmet.
It is approaching four years since Vladimir Putin launched Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, just after the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
“I thank the flag bearer of our national team at the Winter Olympics, Vladyslav Heraskevych, for reminding the world of the price of our struggle,” Zelensky said on X.
“This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate or called a ‘political demonstration at a sporting event.’ It is a reminder to the entire world of what modern Russia is,” the president added.
Gestures of a political nature on the medal podium have been forbidden since 2021 under article 50 of the Olympic Charter but athletes are permitted to express their views in press conferences and on social media.
Ukrainian Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi told AFP this month that Russia has killed “more than 650 athletes and coaches,” according to the latest data.
In various social media videos, Heraskevych has said the images represent only a fraction of the athletes killed since the full?scale invasion and include Olympians and Youth Olympic medallists, such as his former teammate, figure skater Dmytro Sharpar.
At the head of a delegation of 46 athletes, Heraskevych marched in Milan last week as his country’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony, alongside speed skater Yelyzaveta Sydorko.
He will be competing at his third Winter Games.
Heraskevych wore the helmet during a training session in Cortina and had intended to use the Games in Italy to help maintain international pressure on Russia.
The 27-year-old said in a social media post on Monday that the International Olympic Committee had banned his custom helmet — which has portraits of Ukrainian athletes killed since Russia’s 2022 invasion — from training and competition.
The IOC has yet to publicly confirm that.
Heraskevych, who was Ukraine’s flag bearer, said the decision “simply breaks my heart.”
The skeleton racer said he would submit an official request to the IOC and continue to seek permission to use the helmet.
It is approaching four years since Vladimir Putin launched Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, just after the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
“I thank the flag bearer of our national team at the Winter Olympics, Vladyslav Heraskevych, for reminding the world of the price of our struggle,” Zelensky said on X.
“This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate or called a ‘political demonstration at a sporting event.’ It is a reminder to the entire world of what modern Russia is,” the president added.
Gestures of a political nature on the medal podium have been forbidden since 2021 under article 50 of the Olympic Charter but athletes are permitted to express their views in press conferences and on social media.
Ukrainian Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi told AFP this month that Russia has killed “more than 650 athletes and coaches,” according to the latest data.
In various social media videos, Heraskevych has said the images represent only a fraction of the athletes killed since the full?scale invasion and include Olympians and Youth Olympic medallists, such as his former teammate, figure skater Dmytro Sharpar.
At the head of a delegation of 46 athletes, Heraskevych marched in Milan last week as his country’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony, alongside speed skater Yelyzaveta Sydorko.
He will be competing at his third Winter Games.
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