The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, today held a bilateral summit in Rome to address the crisis caused by the arrival in Italy this year of about 26,000 immigrants from North Africa. The summit was attended by Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economy of the two countries (Franco Frattini, Roberto Maroni and Giulio Tremonti, Italy, and Alain Juppe, Claude Guéant and Christine Lagarde, France) and will also address bilateral relations.
According to Frattini said on the eve of the meeting, Sarkozy and Berlusconi will make a joint statement addressed to the institutions and the states of the European Union (EU) to help their members more interested in immigration issues, but also to countries of origin of these flows, including Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.
Italy will propose "specific support instruments" and decided, according to Frattini, a proposal that the European Investment Bank (EIB) long-term loans amounting to 10,000 million euros to the countries of the southern Mediterranean. The summit will also consider the creation of the Mediterranean Bank and stress the need to strengthen the Agency for Control of External Borders (Frontex), among other things.
Today's meeting comes after a dispute between France and Italy following the temporary residence permits granted by the Italian authorities to the Tunisians arrived on its shores until April 5 for them to circulate freely throughout the countries of the region Schengen. A measure taken by Italy to tackle the wave of migration from earlier this year received following the riots lived in northern Africa and attracted criticism from countries like France and Germany.
The disagreement between Rome and Paris was compounded on 17 April when authorities galas suspended for about seven hours the train service between the Italian town of Ventimiglia and Menton French to prevent the entry of immigrants. Following this incident, Italian media reported these days of cases of immigrants who had been "returned" from France to Italy for failing to meet the minimum requirements of free movement within the Schengen area.
In this line, France raised in recent days the possibility of temporarily suspending the Schengen agreement, considering that it has shown poor response to the influx of immigrants to Europe through Italy, mostly from Tunisia and Libya. In this regard, Henri Guaino, special adviser to Sarkozy on Sunday defended the initiative to terminate the agreements in exceptional cases the Schengen free movement by the need for greater control of EU external borders.
Italy, meanwhile, has agreed, through his foreign minister, Franco Frattini, that the Schengen treaty requires a "review." 
According to Frattini said on the eve of the meeting, Sarkozy and Berlusconi will make a joint statement addressed to the institutions and the states of the European Union (EU) to help their members more interested in immigration issues, but also to countries of origin of these flows, including Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.
Italy will propose "specific support instruments" and decided, according to Frattini, a proposal that the European Investment Bank (EIB) long-term loans amounting to 10,000 million euros to the countries of the southern Mediterranean. The summit will also consider the creation of the Mediterranean Bank and stress the need to strengthen the Agency for Control of External Borders (Frontex), among other things.
Today's meeting comes after a dispute between France and Italy following the temporary residence permits granted by the Italian authorities to the Tunisians arrived on its shores until April 5 for them to circulate freely throughout the countries of the region Schengen. A measure taken by Italy to tackle the wave of migration from earlier this year received following the riots lived in northern Africa and attracted criticism from countries like France and Germany.
The disagreement between Rome and Paris was compounded on 17 April when authorities galas suspended for about seven hours the train service between the Italian town of Ventimiglia and Menton French to prevent the entry of immigrants. Following this incident, Italian media reported these days of cases of immigrants who had been "returned" from France to Italy for failing to meet the minimum requirements of free movement within the Schengen area.
In this line, France raised in recent days the possibility of temporarily suspending the Schengen agreement, considering that it has shown poor response to the influx of immigrants to Europe through Italy, mostly from Tunisia and Libya. In this regard, Henri Guaino, special adviser to Sarkozy on Sunday defended the initiative to terminate the agreements in exceptional cases the Schengen free movement by the need for greater control of EU external borders.
Italy, meanwhile, has agreed, through his foreign minister, Franco Frattini, that the Schengen treaty requires a "review."
- Berlusconi and Sarkozy row about North African migrants, refugees mass at Paris gateway (26/04/2011)
- Berlusconi and Sarkozy resolve North Africa immigration row: Refugees say UK is their 'only hope' (26/04/2011)
- You: Call for close EU borders after Arab protests (26/04/2011)
- LA CONQUETE Poster Mocks President Sarkozy (26/04/2011)
- France, Italy Seek to Re-impose Border Controls to Keep Africans Out (26/04/2011)
Silvio Berlusconi (homepage) Silvio Berlusconi (wikipedia) Berlusconi: "Meglio appassionato di belle ragazze che gay" (youtube) Berlusconi Obama Suntanned - English Subtitles (youtube) Nichi Vendola - videolettera a Silvio Berlusconi - Il teatro della virilità (youtube) Nicolas Sarkozy (homepage) Nicolas Sarkozy (wikipedia)
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