Merkel left on the sidelines amid row at refugee summit
2018-06-25 09:43:03 source：The Times
June 25, 2018
Angela Merkel’s efforts to save her government by forging a deal on migrants were dealt a blow as an EU emergency summit that she had arranged was overshadowed by a row between France and Italy.
Before President Macron of France arrived at yesterday’s meeting in Brussels he said that countries refusing to accept migrants should face financial penalties. “A country like Italy has not at all the same migratory pressure as last year. The crisis we are experiencing today in Europe is a political crisis,” said Mr Macron, who has described the brand of populism in power in Italy as “leprosy”.
Matteo Salvini, Italy’s interior minister, hit back and said that there had been “650,000 landings in four years, 430,000 applications . . . 170,000 apparent refugees currently housed in hotels, buildings and apartments at a cost exceeding €5 billion.”
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