Premier Giuseppe Conte on Tuesday warned the European Union that it must address the problem of migrant arrivals if it wants to avoid more tense standoffs with Rome in the future. "If we don't want another Diciotti case, we need a European response," Conte told a press conference after meeting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Rome ahead of an EU summit in Salzburg. He was referring to Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's refusal to allow over 100 migrants saved at sea to disembark from Diciotti Coast Guard ship during a 10 standoff with the EU.
Conte called on the EU to make more investments in North Africa as part of cooperation to stop migrant flows.
He also reiterated his call for an overhaul of the Sophia naval mission in the Mediterranean, which Rome says currently puts too much of the burden of rescued migrants on Italy.
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