Italy's interior ministry will
ask the government to discontinue the Mare Nostrum
search-and-rescue operation when Frontex Plus begins in
November, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Monday.
"Once Europe is there with ships, helicopters and all the
necessary equipment, we'll have achieved our objective of
clarifying that that border is an European border, a Schengen
border, not an Italian border," Alfano said.
Frontex Plus is an expanded version of EU border agency
Frontex, and is the result of Italy's calls for the EU to step
in to shoulder some of the burden from the influx of immigrants
arriving by sea, most of whom make Italy their first stop.
Italy set up Mare Nostrum in October 2013 after 400 people
perished in two migrant boat disasters off the coast of Sicily.
The operation costs nine million euros a month, taking up
the bulk of the Navy's budget.
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