Spain accuses Italy of breaking ‘migrant rules’

Bloomberg

Spain accused Italy of breaking international rules with its failure to allow a ship carrying 107 migrants to dock at an Italian port.
Italy “is keeping its ports closed in breach of all the rules,” acting Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said in an interview with Cadena Ser radio.
“We are talking about people, about laws that everyone has to obey.”
The plight of the migrants on board the Open Arms, a ship owned by the Spanish non-governmental organisation of the same name, sparked a diplomatic spat when Spain said it would make Algeciras or other ports available to the vessel.
Even as Spain’s government described Rome’s refusal to receive the vessel as “inconceivable,” Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the Spanish offer vindicated his no-entry policy, showing that “he who perseveres, wins.”
As he’s done with other migrant-ship standoffs in the Mediterranean, Salvini has used the Open Arms case to portray himself as Europe’s most dogged foe of immigration. His anti-migrant League party is pushing for new elections that could see Salvini become Italy’s next premier.
A vote to dissolve the government could come as soon as Tuesday.