Rome Will Not Be 'Fooled' On Migrant Issue, Rules Out 'Italexit' - Deputy Prime Minister

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Italy's threat to pull its contribution to the EU budget in the event Brussels fails to redistribute the migrants aboard the Diciotti coast guard ship will not lead to the country's withdrawal from the European Union, but the country would not be "fooled" on the migrant issue, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said Friday.

On Thursday, Di Maio, who also leads the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), said on Facebook that Italy might consider suspending its 20 billion euro ($23.2 billion) contribution to EU budget if the European Union failed to agree on the redistribution of migrants from the Diciotti ship, which had been denied entry by Maltese and Italian authorities and was in Sicily's Catania port. Also on Thursday, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini let 27 minors, all of them aged 14 to 16, to leave the rescue ship, but 150 migrants still remained on board.

"The government is not saying it won't do its bit but we don't want to be fooled. ... [But ultimatum] won't lead to an Italexit," Di Maio said, as quoted by the Ansa news agency.

The official slammed Brussels for the lack of respect toward their obligations to take in migrants.

"What signal do we send by caving in? It means having them ride roughshod over us. Italian citizens are asking us to make sure Italy is respected. ... We are asking for deeds and concrete acts of real solidarity to follow nice words," the deputy prime minister said.

Over the past several months, a number of EU states, namely Malta, Italy and Spain, have been at odds over the migrant rescue vessel issue.

In June, Italy and Malta, for instance, denied entry to the Aquarius, which was then carrying over 600 rescued migrants, but Spain eventually allowed the vessel to dock in its port city of Valencia. However, both Spain and Italy denied entry to another rescue vessel, the Lifeline, later in June. This month, the Maltese government allowed the Aquarius with 141 people on board to dock in its ports after it reached an agreement with several EU states to redistribute the migrants.