Rome, 04/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 4 July, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called for a strategy on the Mediterranean, with migration one of the priorities of the Italian Presidency. “The Mediterranean is not just the sea of Italy but it is a border, at the heart of Europe. We need a European policy, a reinforcement of Frontex (the European agency which coordinates the EU's actions on its external borders), a Frontex plus which needs more investment, to be decided upon” at Community level, Renzi told his joint press conference with the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, following the traditional trip of the College of Commissioners to the country holding the rotating Presidency (our translation throughout).
Referring again to the thousands of migrants who try to reach the shorelines of Europe, particularly the Italian shores, Renzi argued that “no civilised nation can stand back and watch what's happening. We cannot let boats sink just because we don't know who is responsible for dealing with it”. Italy operates its own “Mare Nostrum” programme, but wants to be progressively replaced in this by Frontex. Mare Nostrum, the ocean rescue operation launched by Italy last autumn following the two dreadful shipwrecks involving migrants which left more than 400 dead, will continue to exist, he went on to stress. “Mare Nostrum continues because some people are chucking their children onto a boat which is then set adrift. Civilised people save children”, Renzi continued.
Renzi underscored the need to focus on Libya. “Around 96% of the migrants choosing to cross the Mediterranean come from Libya”, he reiterated. He went on to argue the need to help the Libyan authorities “at all levels to implement the results of the elections” of 25 June and “to allow the new government to ask for the help of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees” (HCR). The HCR should be authorised to travel to Libya as soon as possible to help the new Libyan government to manage flows of migrants and refugees, said the Italian prime minister. It has to be determined who is genuinely an asylum seeker and who is not, he said.
For his part, Barroso, welcomed Italy's efforts in favour of migrants. He stressed that the Commission had called for a more cooperative approach on the part of the member states. “The Commission needs more resources, we have no frigates or aircraft, but we need to get better at pooling resources”, he argued. (CG)