No migrants, no problems

Contrary to mutual claims and threats caused by disagreements over migrants, the meeting of the leaders of France and Italy took place

The leaders of the largest European countries decided to "pull the brakes on" the emerging crisis in relations. The new Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, today visited the Elysee Palace to take part in a lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron. Both politicians were in a good mood and smiled at the objectives of the cameras and cameras aimed at them.

Apple of discord

The reason for the discord between France and Italy was the vessel with the refugees "Aquarius", owned by a human rights organization. Italian authorities have forbidden the ship to land migrants on the shores of Sicily. Among the 629 people on board the "Aquarius" were dozens of minor children without parents and pregnant women. Illegals were mostly from Africa, the rest are from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Rome's refusal to accept migrants caused criticism of Paris. The official representative of the French government, Benjamin Grivo, called the actions of the Italians "cynical and irresponsible." And Macron poked Konte nose into the international law of the sea, according to which, in the event of a disaster, measures should be taken by the country whose shore is closer to the site of the accident.

The new Italian government, in which anti-migration sentiments are strong, canceled the working visit of the Minister of Economy Giovanni Trii to Paris. The French ambassador was summoned to the Italian Foreign Ministry to clarify the words of Grivo. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who promised to deport up to half a million migrants from the country, demanded "official apologies" from France and even dissuaded the Italian prime minister from a visit to Paris.

Help from Spain

As a result, the conflict between Paris and Rome was resolved even before Comte's arrival in France. The new Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez decided to pass his first examination of the Brussels bureaucracy. The socialist Sanchez agreed to accept the ship with the migrants. On this soothing note, Conte had a telephone conversation with Macron.

"We agreed on the need for close cooperation of Italy, France, as well as all other European countries. Because the issue of migration and immigration can not be postponed, and decisions can not be taken solely by Italy, "the Italian prime minister said.

"Battle" in Brussels

Macron told Conte that "none of his comments were aimed at offending Italy and the Italian people." The two leaders agreed to discuss new initiatives on migration ahead of the EU summit in late June. According to the December agreement of EU leaders, at the end of June, the "Dublin rules" will be stopped, according to which applications for asylum must be processed by the countries of primary admission. That is, the main burden falls on Greece, Italy and Spain. The Italian government demands to distribute migrants to other EU countries, and Salvini has already announced the formation of an alliance with Austria and Germany to combat illegal migrants.

The refugee problem continues to deepen the political crisis not only within the European Union, but also within its member countries. Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic categorically reject Brussels' plans for the distribution of migrants in EU countries, which the European Commission suggests responding with "financial punishment". In Germany, the government is under threat of disintegration with such difficulty. The Bavarian sister of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party opposes the idea of reuniting refugee families. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer recently refused to meet with Merkel, and his party of Christian Socialists (CSU) recently ripped off a meeting in the Bundestag.

Thus, even if the conflict between Italy and France, resolved by chance, is just a rehearsal of this disassembly involving all EU leaders, which will take place at the summit at the end of this month.