Rescue ship with 42 migrants defies Italy order to stay out

An aid group's rescue ship carrying 42 migrants picked up off Libya two weeks ago entered Italian waters Wednesday in defiance of an explicit ban by Italy's interior minister, who has vowed not to allow any of the rescued passengers to disembark and has threatened to seize the ship and arrest the captain.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the ship operated by German nonprofit Sea-Watch violated maritime law by disobeying direct orders not to enter Mediterranean Sea waters under Italian jurisdiction and ignoring the Italian government's clearly stated policy of not welcoming private rescue ships.

"The right to defend our borders is sacred," Salvini said.

Italian Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, attends a RAI state TV program in Rome, Wednesday, June 26, 2019. A German humanitarian ship carrying 42 migrants rescued off Libya two weeks ago is in Italian waters within sight of Lampedusa island in defiance of a ban by the country's hard-line interior minister. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he wouldn't allow any of the migrants to disembark and threatened Wednesday to deploy law enforcement. (Riccardo AntimianiANSA via AP)

Italian media played a recording of the ship's captain calling in to report she was heading to Italy "because I cannot guarantee the safety of the people on board anymore." The response: "You are not authorized to enter Italian waters."

Salvini has insisted the ship operated by German group and sailing under a Dutch flag should have continued on to Malta, Tunisia or northern European ports instead of remaining near Italy for so many days.

Hours after Sea-Watch 3 arrived Wednesday off the coast of Italy's Lampedusa island, there was no indication of a resolution to the standoff.

Italian Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, smiles as he attends a RAI state TV program in Rome, Wednesday, June 26, 2019. A German humanitarian ship carrying 42 migrants rescued off Libya two weeks ago is in Italian waters within sight of Lampedusa island in defiance of a ban by the country's hard-line interior minister. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he wouldn't allow any of the migrants to disembark and threatened Wednesday to deploy law enforcement. (Riccardo AntimianiANSA via AP)

Given the Dutch flag, Italy requested "formal steps" from the Netherlands through its embassy in The Hague, the Italian Foreign Ministry said. Meanwhile, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte met with Salvini and Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi in Rome to discuss the situation.

The captain of Sea-Watch 3, Carola Rackete, said in a video posted on Twitter that Italian authorities had boarded the ship to check documentation and the crew's passports. Bringing the migrants to land was an unavoidable obligation despite the risk of her arrest, Rackete said.

The authorities "are waiting for further instructions from their superiors," she said. "I really hope they will take the rescues off the ship soon."

Italian Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, attends a RAI state TV program in Rome, Wednesday, June 26, 2019. A German humanitarian ship carrying 42 migrants rescued off Libya two weeks ago is in Italian waters within sight of Lampedusa island in defiance of a ban by the country's hard-line interior minister. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he wouldn't allow any of the migrants to disembark and threatened Wednesday to deploy law enforcement. (Riccardo AntimianiANSA via AP)

Sea-Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebereger said the crew had previously requested permission to port in Malta and was turned down. Sea-Watch also asked the European Union's executive commission to intervene and help find a port that will allow the ship, Neugebauer said.

The European Commission had been in touch with "several member states" by midday to identify a port where the migrants could disembark and countries willing to take the passengers in after that, spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said. She said no decisions were made.

Sea-Watch said that the migrants had become desperate after the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday rejected their appeal to be allowed to disembark in Italy.

Those on board are among 53 that the group said it rescued June 12 from a rubber boat off Libya in international waters. In the meantime, 11 have been evacuated to Italy for medical reasons. The remaining 42 include a 12 year old and two other children traveling alone.

The group's cultural mediator, Haidi Sadik, said many on board have been tortured in Libya. "But even if this was not the case, any person rescued at sea, by law has to be brought to a place of safety. These are people with basic needs and basic rights. A rescue operation is not finished until every single person rescued has both feet on the ground," Sadik said.

It is the latest standoff since Italy's populist government began refusing port last year to humanitarian rescue ships. Salvini claims the boat's aid migrant traffickers by waiting off the Libyan coast to pick up migrants from unseaworthy vessels that couldn't make it all the way to Europe.

He also is trying to push the European Union to find a way to take the pressure of dealing with migrants off Italy, a main entry point due to its southern Mediterranean location. EU rules require the country asylum-seekers reach first to consider applications for protection, a process that has kept new arrivals in Italy for extended periods.

But at the same time, the mayor of Lampedusa told broadcaster Sky TG24 that migrants continue to arrive on other boats, often from Tunisia, that aren't operated by private groups. He said eight migrants arrived Tuesday evening on a boat that a police vessel towed to port.

In Turkey, where an EU agreement with the government has stem the number of Europe-bound migrants, officials said Wednesday that a van carrying dozens of migrants ignored orders to stop and sped past a police checkpoint before crashing into a wall.

Ten migrants were killed and about 30 others were injured in the crash. Many migrants try to enter European Union member Greece from Turkey by sea, making a relatively short crossing to nearby Greek islands. Others take a northern land route.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed satisfaction on Monday after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor.

Candidates from his pro-European Union centrist Civic Coalition, or running with the party's backing, won in a series of cities in the second round of local elections held on Sunday, among them Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw and Rzeszow.

“It is very difficult to clearly say who won and who lost,” Tusk said Monday. “But if we compare these results, especially in the most attractive places, on these attractive battlefields ... then I actually have reasons for satisfaction.”

“Law and Justice has simply disappeared in many places,” Tusk added at a news conference, referring to the main opposition party.

The results put Civic Coalition in a favorable position as the country looks next to elections to the European Parliament on June 9.

Mayors were chosen in a total of 748 cities and towns where no single candidate won at least 50% of the vote during the first round on April 7.

Candidates for Tusk’s party also recaptured cities where they had not held power for many years, including Zielona Gora, Legnica and Torun.

The local and regional elections were viewed as a test for Tusk's pro-European Union government four months after it took power at the national level. Sunday's second round strengthened the Tusk government's leverage in the cities, which should facilitate cooperation on development projects and allotment of EU funds.

Tusk's allies also won in some places in the first round two weeks ago, including in Warsaw, where incumbent Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski was an easy victor.

In the first round, the right-wing Law and Justice, prevailed on the level of regional assemblies in the country's 16 provinces, where it took 34.3% of the votes, while Tusk's Civic Coalition got 30.6%. Law and Justice governed on the national level from 2015-23.

Tusk’s socially liberal Civic Coalition traditionally has strong support in cities, while Law and Justice has a more solid base in conservative rural areas, particularly in eastern Poland.

Civic Coalition is the largest group in a three-party coalition that governs the EU nation of 38 million people. The coalition is pro-European Union but otherwise spans a wide ideological spectrum with left-wing politicians in the Left party as well as conservatives in the Third Way.

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Campaign posters promote candidates as Poles vote in local and regional elections in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk reacts during his and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with students in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk listens to the media in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 15, 2024. Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)