(Bloomberg) -- Italian Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini criticized the European Union for failing to help his country find a solution to control the flow of migrants to its coastline, as tensions increased over the arrival of the charity ship Sea-Watch 3 near the island of Lampedusa.
“The European Union only shows up when it wants our money,” Salvini, who's also Interior Minister, said during a press conference in Rome. “The ship is clearly violating our laws. What is someone waiting for to issue an arrest warrant?”
Salvini, the head of the right-wing League party, has adopted a strict stance on immigration since his party took power with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement last year.
Under a decree approved in June, Italy restricted access to Italy's ports by ships of non-profit government organizations rescuing refugees trying to cross from Africa to Italy.
Salvini reiterated on Wednesday he will not allow the ship carrying the migrants aboard to disembark.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chiara Albanese in Rome at calbanese10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Dan Liefgreen
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