Di Maio threatens to cut 20bln contribution to EU

 ROME - The Italian government has announced that it will cut annual EU contributions if the Sherpas migration summit does not resolve the relocation of persons aboard the Diciotti ship, warns the Vice President, Luigi Di Maio. 

 While his government is avalanched by criticism, Di Maio has called for the EU to decide the destinies of the remaining 141 migrants (mostly Eritreans) on board the Diciotti by the end of today. He has threatened that Italy will not give Brussels the annual €20bn in contributions if they fail to resolve the migrant allocation: "It’s not an ‘Italexit’, but our citizens are simply asking for some respect."

 "Europe was born out of principles such as solidarity; if it is not able to redistribute 170 people in need then they have a serious problem with their founding principles," said the vice president on Rai Tre.

 The crucial Sherpas summit is to be held today in Brussels, which aims is to solidify a common line on the issue of migrants. Di Maio has put the pressure on the decision with his threat to cut Italy’s 20-billion-euro annual contribution: "I have not seen any solutions provided by the E.U. this week. We do not want to be messed about by the other countries of the Union, either."

 On the Fico-Salvini spat, Di Maio has confirmed that he stands with Salvini: “The President of the Chamber is free to say what he wants, but this is the government’s line,” creating a further divide between leaders and Parliament members.

 Within the Five Star Movement itself, cracks show as ministers divide over the Diciotti incident. Giuseppe Brescia, Minister of the Commission for Constitutional Affairs said in an interview for Avvenire: "Fico is not alone. If anything, the opposite is true: many of us think like Fico. The motto of the M5S is: ‘no one should be left behind’.”

 Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emma Bonino, has spoken out against the aggressive line of Italy’s leaders: “We have a government full of bullies who ought to be denounced to the International Court for Human Rights,” read her recent tweet.

 Meanwhile, critics have been picking apart Salvini’s inconsistent migrant policy: since the beginning of the campaign, the League leader promised that Italy would take on “real” refugees and accept full responsibility for their integration. “That seven per cent of migrants who are really escaping from war will be treated with white gloves. I welcome them into my house as if it were their own home,” were his words just two months ago. The Diciotti boat which has been blocked at Catania port holds mainly Eritrean refugees – citizens who have the right to asylum and who countries of the European Union are obliged to look after.

lb