Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi de Maio has announced that the Italian government is not currently ready to open its ports to receive migrants who are rescued by the European Union Mission in Libya to stop the entry of weapons.
During a video conference for the European Unions’s Foreign Affairs Council, De Maio said “Italy will give all of its strengths and make them available to providing for its citizens”.
“If European ships carry out maritime rescue operations, Italy is not ready to receive new arrivals of migrants,” he added, referring to the new naval operation Irene, that aims to combat the delivery of weapons into Libya.