France grants port to migrant rescue ship amid Italy rift

By BARBARA SURK
Associated Press

NICE, France (AP) — France’s interior minister says his country will take in passengers from a migrant rescue ship who have been stranded in the Mediterranean Sea after Italy denied them entry. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Thursday that France would welcome some 230 Ocean Viking passengers at the military port in the city of Toulon on Friday. Darmanin says the passengers subsequently will be divided among France, Germany and other European countries. However, he says France plants to withdraw from a voluntary European Union mechanism for sharing asylum-seekers. He cited Italy dragging its feet in assigning ports to charity-operated rescue ships in recent weeks. Italy’s interior minister in turn called France’s decision “totally incomprehensible.”