Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has expressed his opposition to the practice of allowing vessels with undocumented migrants on board to dock in European ports, local media reported on Monday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2018) Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has expressed his opposition to the practice of allowing vessels with undocumented migrants on board to dock in European ports, local media reported on Monday.
Kurzs words come as the European Union is struggling to settle the situation around the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti, which rescued 177 migrants from a boat in the territorial waters of Malta last week. The vessel continues to strand near the island of Lampedusa after having been denied entry by Maltese and Italian authorities. On Sunday, Rome called on the European Commission to take immediate measures to solve the issue.
According to Der Standard newspaper, Kurz said in a telephone conversation with Maltese counterpart Joseph Muscat that such vessels should be turned away at EU external borders, while migrants should be sent to the countries of their origin or a safe third country on the African continent.
"In this regard, we share the same view that not every vessel should be allowed to dock in EU [ports]," Kurz said, as quoted by the newspaper.
The chancellor reportedly added that other European countries should not let such vessels disembark at their ports.
Over the past several months, the European Union has been in discord amid attempts of multiple migrant rescue ships to enter its ports. In June, Italy and Malta, for instance, denied entry to the Aquarius that was then carrying over 600 rescued migrants, while Spain eventually allowed the vessel to dock in Valencia. However, both Spain and Italy denied entry to another rescue vessel, the Lifeline, later in June. Earlier in August, the Maltese government allowed the Aquarius migrant rescue vessel with now 141 people on board to dock in its ports after it reached an agreement with several EU states to share the migrants.
