ROME - Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini threatened on Wednesday to use tough, new measures for the first time on a German charity ship, Sea Watch, after it picked up migrants off the coast of Libya without authorization.
The Italian government on Tuesday approved a security decree that gives the Interior Ministry the power to deny access to Italian territorial waters to vessels that it considers are a risk to security or public order.It did not specify that charity ships were the intended target, but Salvini has vowed to halt their operations and he jumped on news that the Sea Watch vessel had picked up 52 people from a rubber boat some 47 miles from Libya.
Salvini accused the ship, which has repeatedly challenged his closed-port policy, of defying maritime law. Migrant arrivals to Italy have plummeted since Salvini took office a year ago, with 2,144 crossing the Mediterranean so far this year, according to official data, down 85% on the same period in 2018 and down 96% on 2017 levels.
TiloJung Der will das wirklich durchziehen? Unmensch in doppelter Hinsicht.
Who is Luring the Middle Eastern Refugees Into Germany
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