International
Despite extensive talks, differences remain on EU migrant deal
After a nine-hour session of stormy talks, leaders of the European Union (EU) reached a deal on migration in the early hours of Friday but details of the meeting still remain vague.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded differences remained on the migrant deal which threatens her political career.
After the tortuous talks, EU leaders agreed to share out refugees arriving in the bloc on a voluntary basis and create “controlled centres” inside the European Union to process asylum requests.
They also agreed to share responsibility for migrants rescued at sea, a key demand of Italy’s new prime minister, Giuseppe Conte.
“Italy is not alone anymore,” he said.
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Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, whose League party campaigned to bar migrants fleeing Africa and expel those already in Italy, said he was “satisfied and proud of our government’s results in Brussels”.
“Finally Europe has been forced to discuss an Italian proposal… (and) finally Italy is no longer isolated and has returned to being a protagonist,” he said in a statement.
According to reports, the summit which was staged in the Belgian capital of Brussels underscored how Europe’s 2015 spike in immigration continues to haunt the bloc.
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