Jacques Serais and Alexandre Chauveau
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7:17 p.m., November 18, 2022
The entourage of the head of state, although 10,000 kilometers from France, closely follows the management of migrants disembarked from the Ocean Viking. On Friday, the Élysée reacted to Italy’s position and denounced “an ugly gesture”, when the people on board the ship should normally have disembarked there.
The Ocean Viking, the SOS Méditerranée ship which was carrying 234 migrants, docked last week in Toulon when it should normally have landed in Italy. This had in particular provoked the anger of the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, denouncing the “unacceptable” behavior of Italy. Friday, the Elysée reacted to the Italian position and denounced “a nasty gesture”.
“The important thing is to continue the cooperation and not stop there. Before continuing: “We must work together to find effective solutions for immigration.”
The Elysée also said it wanted to “restart the work with stringency vis-à-vis Italy”, specifying that the people received in France as part of the Ocean Viking affair fall within the framework of the agreements with Italy.
“The migratory pressure has increased sharply”
“Our texts, our laws, carry constraints which also correspond to our principles”, continued the Elysée, which considers that “migratory pressure has increased sharply in recent years in Europe and our rules are not built for this situation. “.
But those around the President also want to be optimistic. Because it reinforces the idea of the need for the asylum and immigration bill which must arrive in parliament soon. “All of this shows one thing. We must succeed in building a strategy that is consistent with our principles and that faces reality. That is our challenge on immigration, to protect those who fight for freedom in their countries”, explains the Elysée.