Italy committed to international missions: Foreign Minister

Rome, July 9 (IANS/AKI) Italy is committed to the international missions it is taking part in and there is no danger of the government "withdrawing from the framework of international and European law," Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said on Monday.

"We are fully committed and have no intention of withdrawing from the framework of international and European law," Moavero told reporters at a press conference here with the United Nations envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame.

Referring to Italy's anti-immigrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's recent called for the closure of Italian ports to vessels engaged in international missions in the Mediterranean, Moavero underlined that the EU's current search and rescue mission's rules no longer require migrants to be taken to the nearest port, even if it is an Italian one.

"In the context of Operation Themis, there is no longer a necessary link with Italy's ports.

"However, the during the current transitional period, Themis' operations are is based on the

mechanism of Triton," he said, referring to the EU operation that preceded Themis.

"It is the government's intention to ask the relevant European authorities to implement Themis' rules of engagement also from an operational point of view," Moavero said.

Salvini made his call to bar international rescue ships from Italy's ports on Sunday after an Irish naval ship Irish naval ship took 106 saved migrants to the Sicilian port of Messina at the weekend.

Italy's new populist coalition government has set a goal of zero migrant arrivals, and Salvini, who heads the far-right League party, has already banned boats operated by charities from entering Italian ports.

--IANS/AKI

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