Italy won’t accept the repatriation of refugees from any European countries, the Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini, said yesterday.

Salvini warned of “shutting Italy’s airports” in the same way it had defied the European Union (EU) laws and closed its ports to prevent migrant arrivals.

The minister’s remarks came in response to recent media reports that the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was preparing to send a group of 40 migrants back to Italy on two flights scheduled to land in the Italian capital of Rome this week. Italian media sources have reported that “up to 40,000 migrants could be repatriated from Germany to Italy as Merkel comes under greater pressure ahead of Bavarian elections next week.”

Full story: middleeastmonitor.com

Middle East Monitor