'Ready to welcome group of migrants', France tells Italy

- PARIS, 04 NOV - French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Friday morning said France is willing to take some of the migrants on rescue vessel Ocean Viking, which is waiting for a safe port in Italy to disembark the 234 people on board.
    Speaking to RMC-BFMTV, Darmanin said: "We have told Italy, and we say this with Germany, that if that humanitarian vessel (Ocean Viking) will be welcomed by Italy, we will also host part of the migrants, of women and children, so that Italy isn't burdened on its own by this arrival of migrants".
    Darmanin told the broadcaster that he has met with the new Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.
    "We have no doubts that Italy will respect international law", he said, asked by French reporters about the situation regarding stranded humanitarian vessels in the Mediterranean.
    "We also tell Italy that the problem of its geography, of being the country that is closer to this ship, doesn't mean that it must be left alone".
    The French minister also stressed that Italy plays a "great human role".
    "We don't doubt for an instant that Italy, a member of the European Union, which has signed all international conventions", will respect international law, stressed Darmanin, who just a few days ago visited Rome with French President Emmanuel Macron.
    Piantedosi recently warned two NGO-run migrant rescue ships including the Ocean Viking from trying to dock in Italy, while Premier Giorgia Meloni said on her first foreign trip, to Brussels Thursday, that one of Italy's priorities was protecting its borders.