Ocean Viking: Meloni slams 'aggressive' France as migrant rescue ship row escalates
A charity-run ship carrying around 230 migrants rescued at sea docked at a French port on Friday after being turned away by Italy, as a war of words over their fate between the two European Union neighbours intensified.
France warned Italy of "severe consequences" before the Ocean Viking arrived at the southern port of Toulon. The charity ship was denied entry by Rome after it rescued the migrants in the Mediterranean.
That brought an angry response from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, head of Italy's most right-wing government in decades, who now appears ready to push the dispute to the top of the European agenda.
"I was struck by the aggressive reaction from the French government which from my point of view is incomprehensible and unjustified," Meloni told a news conference, adding that Italy could not be the only destination for migrants from Africa.
The Ocean Viking ship had initially sought access to Italy's coast, which is closest to where the migrants were picked up, saying health and sanitary conditions onboard were rapidly worsening.
Italy refused, saying other nations must shoulder more of the burden that comes with accepting thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa every year.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said France acted out of a "duty of humanity", criticising Italy's stance as "inhumane" and "incomprehensible", saying the Ocean Viking "is located without any doubt in Italy's search and rescue zone".
He criticised Italian authorities for "making the migrants wait at sea for 15 days".
The French authorities have pledged to decide the migrants' fate "very quickly", by assessing their asylum applications within "48 hours".
On Thursday, Darmanin said nine European nations had
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