Italy to EU nations: Accept some migrants from ships

Bloomberg

Italy has called on other European Union nations to take some of the 450 migrants aboard two ships in the Mediterranean after the country’s interior ministry refused to allow them to come ashore.
“I expect facts and not words, concrete action,” said Matteo Salvini, who leads the anti-immigration League party and is both interior minister and a deputy prime minister, according to a report by Italian news agency Ansa.
He made the comments after Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi sent a letter Saturday to EU countries asking them to respect commitments on migrants they made at a summit in June.
Italian PM Giuseppe Conte said that France and Malta have agreed to accept 50 migrants each. “This is the first important result obtained after a day of phone calls and written exchanges I have had with all
27 European leaders,” he said. He added that Italy would accept some of the rescued migrants if other countries agreed to share the burden.
Germany will also take 50 people amid ongoing talks on increased bilateral cooperation on asylum, a spokeswoman for the country’s government said.
The latest tension erupted when Salvini said a boat carrying the 450 “illegal immigrants” near Malta would not be allowed to dock in Italy.