The migrants “will only see Italy on a postcard.”
(Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini)
While many of us are fixated on our own migrant invasion at the border, Europe is in a tizzy as Italy refuses a docking request from a second migrant ferry (aka rescue boat) from Libya.
From AP at ABC News:
Italy’s hard-line interior minister on Thursday refused port to a Dutch-flagged rescue boat with 224 migrants on board, a week after turning away another foreign ship, the Aquarius, carrying 630 migrants.
These so-called rescue boats enter Libyan waters to pick up their human cargoes not even waiting until they reach international waters.
Matteo Salvini said the ship operated by the German aid group Mission Lifeline had loaded the migrants in Libyan waters after the Italian coast guard told it to leave the rescues to the Libyan coast guard.
Salvini said he had contacted the Dutch ambassador about the ship’s activities, adding that the migrants “will only see Italy on a postcard.”
Mission Lifeline said it conducted the rescue in international waters and asked for a safe port, which had not been assigned, adding “‘we are sailing northward.” The ship’s position Thursday night was not clear.
Italy’s transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, told the news agency ANSA after a Cabinet meeting late Thursday that the Lifeline remained in Libyan waters, according to Italian coast guard officials. He also said that the ship would be seized by Italian authorities if it arrived in Italy.
[….]
Salvini has likened such rescue ships to taxi services that finish the job for migrant smugglers. He also has pointed out the failure of other European Union nations to take their share of migrants headed for Europe, a point that Italy will press in upcoming EU meetings.
Salvini has threatened that Italy will withhold its payments to the EU if it doesn’t get more help on the migrant issue.
More here.
Meanwhile in Germany…..
Almost half of Germans want Merkel to resign, poll shows
The poll results are mixed in my opinion. From The Local:
A survey carried out by YouGov and published on Friday shows that 43 percent of Germans want Merkel to leave office.
The survey also revealed that 42 percent of respondents wanted the veteran Chancellor to stay on as head of government, while 15 percent did not give a response either way.
Somewhat surprisingly, Merkel is most popular among voters of the environmentalist Green party, two thirds of whom said she should stay in office.
By the way, on the issue of environmentalists, any real environmentalist knows that vast numbers of migrants entering any western country are going to hurt the environment as they will consume more open space, more land for schools, housing, roads, will create more pollution and gobble up limited resources as well.
I’m digressing, back to the news….
The survey also showed that most Germans don’t believe that the coalition will collapse over the current dispute between Merkel and the CSU. Only 32 percent of respondents said that the coalition is about to fall to pieces, while 45 percent said it would survive to fight another day.
Nonetheless half the respondents said that they did not believe that the coalition would make it to the next scheduled national elections in 2021.
Whereas Merkel once enjoyed unrivalled support among German voters, recent polls have shown dwindling patience with her policies.
More at The Local.
See my ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive for ten years of posts on the subject.
See my previous post on Mama Merkel here.
My Germany archive is here and Italy is here.