Interior Minister Matteo Salvini
said Thursday that Italy will not accept proposals that do not
satisfy its demands for a sea change in the EU's approach to
migration.
Rome is unhappy about a draft document on European rules on
asylum ahead of an informal meeting of eight countries in
Brussels on Sunday in view of next week's European Council
summit.
"(Premier Giuseppe) Conte will go to Brussels. Either there
is a useful proposal, including one that defends refugees, and
these rules change, or we'll say No," Salvini, who is also
deputy premier and League leader, told State broadcaster RAI.
"He has my total support to discuss something that is useful
to our security".
Salvini suggested Conte might snub Sunday's meeting on Sunday
after the draft put great stress on the stopping secondary
movements of migrants within the EU and speeding procedures to
send them back to the State where they first arrived - which is
frequently Italy.
Conte told European Council President Donald Tusk in Rome on
Wednesday that it was unthinkable for Italy to also have to take
migrants that have made secondary movements, given that it
already is widely recognised as being the country most exposed
to primary migrant flows.
"I told him in advance that I am not willing to discuss
secondary movements at the Brussels pre-summit without first
having addressed the emergency of the primary movements that
Italy is tackling alone," Conte said via Twitter.
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