Italy and Germany must cooperate
on Libya and migrants but there must be respect for human
rights, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Premier Giuseppe
Conte in Rome Monday.
Merkel told Conte that "cooperation with the Libyan coast
guard is of great importance" but we must also involve "the
UNHCR and the NGOs and guarantee reasonable standards" of human
rights "which do not exist in all of Libya".
Merkel told Conte "thanks to Italy for its commitment in
Libya".
She also thanked Conte for Italy's participation in the
Berlin conference on the north African country, stressing that
"now we need a ceasefire".
Conte said that "I want to publicly thank the German
government because on the issue of migrations it has not failed
to give its help to Italy. Germany, if we speak of sensitivity
on the overall framework of problems, and the need for
redistribution, is a country in the front line and that must be
recognised".
Italy and Germany are united against intolerance, Premier
Conte said with Merkel.
The two countries, he said, "must work together to address
the common European responsibility in giving adequate responses
to citizens.
"With Germany we find ourselves often sharing goals and ways
of reaching them, sometimes we are not convinced of the same
solutions, but we must continue to work in this direction, we
must not increase intolerance and the divisive forces in the
EU", Conte told a press conference with Merkel.
Italy and Germany "have a joint commitment to tackle the main
challenges that await us, migration, relaunching growth,
employment, fighting climate change, completing the governance
of the EU, the negotiations on the budget, Brexit and the issue
of enlargement," Conte said.
Merkel told Conte that "banking union must be carried
forward, to guarantee the stability of the euro".
Conte told the press conference with Merkel that "we agreed
on cooperation to try to talk on the most advanced solutions
from the technological standpoint and share our knowhow" in the
steel sector, referring to the ArcelorMittal and former ILVA
case.
The Italian premier said that the Italian government is faced
with the "challenge" of "working for a solution that keeps up
the safeguard of health and the safeguard of jobs" at the former
ILVA steel works in Taranto which ArcelorMittal is trying to get
out of.
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