In the fight against migration, Italy stagnates at U.U. summit agreement



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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrives in Brussels on Thursday for a summit of the European Union. (Jasper Junen / Bloomberg)

The new Italian populist government rushed Thursday a confrontation at an already tense EU summit, delaying the publication of a list diplomatic conclusions, fearing that the bloc would do too little to help Rome ease its migration burden.

The move, according to two diplomats from the member states, prompted EU leaders to cancel an evening press conference – and head to the final day of the summit with growing doubts about Europe's ability to Commit to a unified response to asylum seekers and migrants reaching its shores.

Thursday night, Italy was not mentioned but stated that "a member has reserved his position on the overall findings, no conclusion has been agreed to Stadium". The findings were to partly affect migration, an issue under negotiation. The bargaining tactics of Italy has laid bare one of the main dividing lines – between the front-line states of the South and other parts of Europe – which complicates the long and difficult efforts by the continent to manage African migration and the Middle East.

European leaders were working Thursday to devise new ways to prevent migrants from reaching the continent, with the German Chanc. Angela Merkel warned before the summit that the migration crisis could decide "the fate of the EU" Italy has proposed that Europe help manage the rescues of migrants in the Mediterranean and to lighten the rules that require asylum seekers to be treated in the country where they arrive for the first time.

Asked Thursday what would happen if other European countries did not accept this proposal, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said: "This is a possibility that I do not want to consider. we come to that, surely on my part, we will not end up with common conclusions. "

The summit took urgency with Merkel facing a rebellion that threatens her chancery. His Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer, said that he would block asylum seekers at the Bavarian border if the Chancellor could not conclude an immigration agreement. If Seehofer separates from Merkel on the issue of migration, he could pull out his Christian social union from the governing coalition, threatening 13-year-old Merkel's presidency as Germany's leader

. the agreement on migration remains difficult, given the growing impetus in several member countries to protect their own borders or to reduce what they consider to be a disproportionate burden.

The political stakes on migration have increased in Austria, Hungary, Poland and Italy has seized the issue, some describing an "invasion" of migrants even as arrivals from the Middle East and the Middle East have come to an end. Africa dropped dramatically.

Up to now, 54,000 migrants have arrived in Europe – against nearly 900,000 Europe has stemmed this flow by strengthening cooperation with Libya, an important starting point for migrants, and by strengthening the coast guard of this country, which patrols the Mediterranean and regularly intercepts Libya. dinghies and rafts to Europe.

One idea in the study is the creation of "landing platforms" in African countries, where migrant asylum applications rescued in the Mediterranean could be evaluated. The idea, mentioned in a letter from the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, would mark a step forward in the strategy to prevent migrants without valid refugee status from reaching Europe. But so far, no African country has expressed interest in hosting such a center, and important questions remain about how the EU would distribute refugees to member states and treat those whose applications are rejected.

"It's a plan to effectively reduce external borders, develop cooperation, treat people outside the European Union," said Andrew Geddes, director of the Migration Policy Center of the United States. European University Institute of Florence. "But there is almost an element of the fantastic island."

One possibility at the top is that Merkel is seeking to conclude bilateral agreements that will allow Germany to send asylum seekers back to other European countries. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told the Financial Times on Wednesday that he was open to such an agreement.

Harlan brought back from Rome.

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