Luxembourg foreign minister Jean Asselborn has said that the EU should consider bringing back ships for Operation Sophia, both for rescue purposes and to fight against trafficking.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini announced during a meeting of the country's national public order and security committee that Italy will use navy and finance police ships "to defend" Italian ports and to control migrant departures.
While many lives have been saved, the EU is dropping a major part of its anti-smuggling operation Sophia, which helped save refugees stranded at sea.
Naval ships will no longer be part of the European Union's anti-smuggling Operation Sophia from next month, EU sources said. Italy had threatened to halt the mission unless rescued migrants were taken to other countries.
Following the case of the ship Mare Jonio run by the NGO Mediterranea, the European Commission has renewed its appeal to the EU to urgently find predictable solutions for migrant disembarkations.
Germany is suspending participation in Operation Sophia, the EU naval mission targeting human trafficking in the Mediterranean. The decision reportedly relates to Italy's reluctance to allow rescued people to disembark.
The European External Action Service has presented a new proposal on the table of the Political and Security Committee (PSC) to continue talks on operation Sophia, which reached an impasse on the issue of migrants rescued by the mission's vessels.
Italy wants other EU states to open their ports to ships from the bloc's Sophia naval mission in the Mediterranean. It's Rome's latest move to pile pressure on EU states to share the migrant burden.
Italy, France and Germany are considering military cooperation with Chad and Niger for Libyan border control. Italian defense minister Roberta Pinotti confirmed the news during the handover of command to Spain of the EU naval mission EUNAVFOR Med Operation Sophia against human smuggling.
Italy is considering a plan to send its navy into Libyan waters to stop migrants and send them back. Approval for the mission could go before parliament as early as next week.
The EU's Operation "Sophia" to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean is not a reason for those setting off, operation commander Admiral Enrico Credendino said Thursday. Credendino was responding to accusations that sea rescues were attracting more migrants and that NGO vessels were helping people traffickers.