After an odyssey in the Mediterranean, the migrants of the "Ocean Viking" go ashore in Toulon. However, relations between France and Italy are deteriorating rapidly: Paris is introducing passport controls at its border near Nice, and Rome is shocked by the harsh reaction.
With their arrival in the French port city of Toulon, the time of uncertainty in the Mediterranean ends for more than 200 migrants on board the sea rescue ship "Ocean Viking". After the boat belonging to the civilian aid organization SOS Méditerranée was last rejected by Italy, it was able to dock at the military port in southern France at noon and send the rescued people off board. Some of them were on the road for more than two weeks, sometimes with bad weather and rough seas. The diplomatic crisis between the EU partners Italy and France continues - or even threatens to escalate further.
In response to the Italians' actions, France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced that he would tighten controls on the border with Italy. At the border crossing between Ventimiglia and Menton near Nice, Gendarmerie officers checked cars coming from Italy, as shown on TV images. With around 500 police officers, more than ten crossings are to be monitored. European Secretary of State Laurence Boone spoke of a closed border with passport controls - this is an extraordinary process between two EU countries within the Schengen area. Further steps would be discussed. She spoke of a breach of trust by Italy.
According to Darmanin, it has already been decided that France will not take in 3,500 migrants from Italy until the summer of next year as planned. This was actually part of an agreement that southern European Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece had struck with other EU partners. In Rome, people are amazed by the actions and the comments from France. Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni rated the reaction as completely exaggerated.
"I was struck by the French government's aggressive response, which I felt was incomprehensible and unjustified," she said. From the point of view of the ultra-right and anti-immigrant politician, the situation is being distorted. Paris is upset about 230 migrants - four people were evacuated from the ship for medical reasons before arrival - while "almost 90,000 migrants had reached Italy since the beginning of the year," Meloni said. According to a count by the Ministry of the Interior, as of Friday there were almost 90,300 people who arrived by boat. Meloni hinted that the government could make sea rescue missions more difficult. "There will certainly be new measures," she said.
That doesn't deter the aid organizations. SOS Méditerranée announced: "Despite all the obstacles, the "Ocean Viking" will set sail again shortly." The German association SOS Humanity and Doctors Without Borders, on whose two ships nearly 250 male migrants had to wait in the Sicilian port of Catania at the beginning of the week, also want to return to the central Mediterranean quickly.
Meloni wants to stop Mediterranean migrants and block ports in North Africa. She said she recently spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the subject. Meloni criticized the actions of France and Germany because Berlin had already agreed to take in a third of the migrants from the "Ocean Viking". Italy had never been helped so quickly, said Meloni. Meloni described the fact that France was also asking other countries to suspend their agreements with the Italians as a "betrayal" of the idea of Europe.
Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People's Party, urged moderation. "Instead of terminating bilateral agreements, France should work together with Italy on a common European solution," said the CSU politician in Rome. "We cannot leave Italy alone in the migration challenge we face."
