ROME: Italy, which has vowed a tough line on immigration, took in more than 500 migrants on Sunday as two charity rescue ships were allowed to dock at ports in the south of the country after several days at sea in bad weather.
The Geo Barents ship, operated by the Doctors without Borders (MSF) charity and which had 248 migrants aboard, arrived in Salerno in the southwestern region of Campania, MSF said.
On the other side of the country, the Humanity 1, another rescue vessel run by the charity SOS Humanity, docked in the port city of Bari after the Italian authorities agreed to grant it permission.
The journey had been very tough and the ship had faced three-meter high waves and strong winds, SOS Humanity said in a tweet, confirming its arrival with 261 migrants on board.
How to respond to requests for help from the charity boats that pick up migrants in the Mediterranean is a challenge for Italy’s new right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Tensions flared with neighbor France last month after the French took in a boat that had been turned away by Italy.
Italian interior ministry sources said the decision to allow the two ships to dock was based on the poor weather conditions and the risks faced by those on board, rather than representing a change of policy.
It accuses the charity ships of making it easier for economic migrants to reach Italy and playing into the hands of people traffickers.
The ministry was working on new regulations to protect Italy’s borders and halt the people smugglers, the sources said.
A 14-year-old boy, who was traveling alone, had been airlifted from the Geo Barents to Sicily after suffering acute abdominal pain, MSF said on Friday.
On Wednesday, a baby was born on the same vessel and later flown with his mother and three siblings to Italy.
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More than 500 migrants arrive in Italy as rescue ships dock
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More than 500 migrants arrive in Italy as rescue ships dock
Denmark hails ‘very constructive’ meeting with US over Greenland
BRUSSELS: Denmark’s foreign minister said Thursday he was “more optimistic” after technical talks kicked off with the United States over Greenland.
“We have had the very first meeting at senior official level in Washington yesterday regarding the Greenlandic issue,” Lars Lokke Rasmussen told journalists at an EU meeting in Brussels.
“It went well in a very constructive atmosphere and tone, and new meetings are planned. It’s not that things are solved, but it’s good.”
The trilateral talks come after US President Donald Trump last week backed down from his threats to seize the autonomous Arctic territory of EU and NATO member Denmark.
“There was a major detour. Things were escalating, but now we are back on track,” Rasmussen said. “I’m slightly more optimistic today than a week ago.”
Trump’s threats over Greenland plunged the transtatlantic alliance into its deepest crisis in years.
The unpredictable US leader backed off his desire to take control of Greenland after saying he had struck a “framework” deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.
But few concrete details appear to have been agreed — with authorities in Denmark and Greenland refusing to discuss handing over any sovereignty.
“I have stated on many occasions, we, of course, share the US security concerns regarding the Arctic, this is something we want to solve in close cooperation,” Rasmussen said.
As part of the compromise with Washington NATO is expected to bolster its activities in the Arctic, while Denmark and Greenland could renegotiate a 1951 treaty on US troop deployments.
“We have had the very first meeting at senior official level in Washington yesterday regarding the Greenlandic issue,” Lars Lokke Rasmussen told journalists at an EU meeting in Brussels.
“It went well in a very constructive atmosphere and tone, and new meetings are planned. It’s not that things are solved, but it’s good.”
The trilateral talks come after US President Donald Trump last week backed down from his threats to seize the autonomous Arctic territory of EU and NATO member Denmark.
“There was a major detour. Things were escalating, but now we are back on track,” Rasmussen said. “I’m slightly more optimistic today than a week ago.”
Trump’s threats over Greenland plunged the transtatlantic alliance into its deepest crisis in years.
The unpredictable US leader backed off his desire to take control of Greenland after saying he had struck a “framework” deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.
But few concrete details appear to have been agreed — with authorities in Denmark and Greenland refusing to discuss handing over any sovereignty.
“I have stated on many occasions, we, of course, share the US security concerns regarding the Arctic, this is something we want to solve in close cooperation,” Rasmussen said.
As part of the compromise with Washington NATO is expected to bolster its activities in the Arctic, while Denmark and Greenland could renegotiate a 1951 treaty on US troop deployments.
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