Germany also rejects the Italian proposal to sort migrants in the various EU ports. In Tallinn, where the European summit on emergency landings is underway, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere was categorical: "We do not support the regionalization of rescue operations". Holland and Belgium share the same opinion, and in recent days both France and Spain have said they were against.
At the moment, only Madrid seems to feel the need to justify its refusal: "Italy has asked for help and we want to give it - declared the Spanish interior minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido - but the ports of Spain are subjected to a important pressure in the western Mediterranean, which also imposes a major effort on us for rescues at sea".
As for the official position of Brussels, the EU commissioner for immigration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said he was against the Italian proposal to change the mandate for the Frontex "Triton" mission for rescues in the Mediterranean Sea. "The mission already has a well-defined mandate - said Avramopoulos before the start of the summit in Tallin - it is a question of improving the implementation of what has already been decided". According to the commissioner, Triton "already does a very good job".
The "Triton" mission is the search and rescue operation for migrants off the coast of Libya and involves 26 countries, led by Italy. It replaced "Mare Nostrum" in 2014 and has the task of leading rescued refugees to Italian ports. Now Italy is proposing to distribute landings to other European ports as well. But so far not a single EU country has agreed to offer its help.
