London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Italy regrets migrant ship spat with France, interior minister says

Italy regrets migrant ship spat with France, interior minister says

Italy said on Wednesday it regretted tensions with Paris over migrants, which soared last week after a charity ship it turned away docked in southern France to disembark around 230 people rescued at sea.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the Ocean Viking vessel, which has a Norwegian flag and is run by non-governmental organization (NGO) SOS Mediterranee, "autonomously" decided to head towards the French coast, after spending days off the island of Sicily.

"Italy never aimed for such a decision, which created international tensions ... and could produce repercussions on migration policies at the European level," Piantedosi told the upper house Senate.

France accused the new rightist government in Rome of breaking a bond of trust and breaching international laws on safeguards for migrants, and said it would not take in 3,000 migrants it had previously pledged to accept from Italy.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Paris's reaction "incomprehensible and unjustified", and the row appeared to cool down only on Monday after talks between Italian and French presidents Sergio Mattarella and Emmanuel Macron.

SOS Mediterranee reacted to Piantedosi on Twitter, saying that Italy left it with "no other choice but to ask France for a safe port", even though that meant more time at sea after spending more than two weeks off the Italian coastline.

"Having had to sail for around two days before reaching a port of disembarkation is a terrible blow dealt by EU member states and associated states to maritime and humanitarian laws," the Franco-German-Swiss-Italian NGO said.

Piantedosi, a career civil servant, insisted that under international law Italy had no duty to take charge of migrants rescued by "private vessels" and said charity ships flying the flag of other states should turn to them for assistance.

"Italy has always emphasised the need for migrant arrivals not to weigh only on the countries at the external border of Europe," Piantedosi said, also criticising insufficient relocations under an EU burden-sharing scheme.

Italy has seen a sharp increase in migrant landings this year, with almost 93,000 people arriving so far in 2022, compared with 59,300 in the same period last year. Around 15% were picked up by charity vessels.

However, Rome last year admitted fewer refugees as a percentage of its population compared with EU peers such as France, Germany and Spain, think-tank ISPI data show, and in the last two years processed fewer asylum requests.

Piantedosi said Italy was considering offering migration channels to countries that accept repatriations and help prevent sea departures.

"The aim would be tackling migrant smuggling and at the same time strengthening legal entry channels," he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×