Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister
Antonio Tajani said on Sunday he would tell his French
counterpart Catherine Colonna that Paris is "wrong" to refuse
migrants entry at the France-Italy border at Ventimiglia during
a meeting on Monday.
"Tomorrow I will be in Paris and I will tell my colleague
Colonna that in Ventimiglia France is wrong" on returns, Tajani
told current affairs programme Mezz'ora' on Rai 3.
The foreign minister also said he would be in Berlin on Thursday
and that he would raise the issue of the German government's
decision to finance migrant NGOs in Italy.
"It's a strange attitude, we will try to understand why it is
moving in this way," said Tajani.
The problem exists, but it must be tackled in a supportive
rather than a selfish manner. Italy is the southern border" of
Europe, he added.
Paris has recently stepped up controls at its southern border
with Italy to prevent irregular migrants arriving in Italy from
crossing over into France.
The EU Court of Justice on Thursday ruled that the France's
policy of refusing entry to illegally-staying third-country
nationals at its borders with other Member States breaches EU
law, in a ruling on an appeal against the policy presented by
several associations.
"Any illegally staying third-country national must, as a
general rule, be the subject of a return decision" even when
controls have been temporarily reintroduced under the Schengen
Borders Code, the court said.
"However, the person concerned must, in principle, be given a
certain amount of time to leave the country voluntarily.
"Forced removal is used only as a last resort," it added.
Meanwhile, on Friday it emerged that Berlin would be funding the
German NGO SOS Humanity to preform migrant search and rescue
operations in the Central Mediterranean.
The news sparked the ire of the right-wing government of Giorgia
Meloni, which described the move as an "anomaly" and demanded
clarification.
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