(ANSA) - Brussels, July 3 - France and Spain are unwilling to accept migrant-rescuing NGO ships docking in their ports if Italy goes ahead with a threat to bar foreign-flagged rescue vessels from Italian ports, ANSA learned from sources in Brussles Monday.
The idea of foreign-flagged migrant-rescuing ships docking in other European countries than Italy will be the thorniest issue at next Thursday's European interior ministers' meeting in Tallinn, other sources said.
Another key talking point will be the difficulties facing funding for the EU's emergency fund to fight the root causes of migration from Africa, to which member States have so far only contributed 89 million euros.
Italy on Sunday reached a deal with Germany and France on more burden sharing over the Mediterranean migrant emergency.
French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated Monday that economic migrants should not be confused with refugees. "We must conduct in a coordinated way in Europe an effective and humane action which will enable us to welocme political refugees, without confusing them with economic migrants and without abandoning the indispensable maintenance of our borders," he said.