Migrant issue: EU pledges solidarity as Italy demands concrete action
Brussels, June 28: Italy will receive solidarity from the European Union on redistributing across the 28-nation bloc the influx of migrants arriving from Africa, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pledged on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Italy's populist Premier Giuseppe Conte, who arrived here for a key summit of EU heads of state and government, stressed that frontline states like Italy need "concrete action" on migration from other EU countries, not just statements of solidarity.
"We must show solidarity. I have been pushing for this for years and it will happen," Juncker said on the sidelines of the key summit at which the controversial issue of migration will be a central topic.
Italy is the main arrival state for boat migrants from Africa and Conte could refuse to sign off on the EU summit conclusions if other states refuse to take in a share of asylum-seekers under a quota system.
Despite a sharp fall in arrivals by sea compared with the last two years, over 16,500 migrants have reached Italy this year and more than 700,000 have landed since 2014. Its new hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is now taking a tough stance, refusing charity rescue ships entry to Italian ports and threatening to deport half a million illegal immigrants.
European Council President Donald Tusk has called for the summit on Thursday and Friday to agree to "regional disembarkation platforms" outside of Europe to weed out economic migrants from refugees, a dedicated EU budget for migration control, and more funding for the Libyan coastguard.
Liberal democracy is at stake in Europe unless nations swiftly secure borders and stop the wave of illegal immigration, Tusk warned in a letter.
Conte, meanwhile, said: "Italy has developed a plan to manage migrant flows which it is bringing to this European Council meeting."
"We believe the plan to be totally reasonable because it fully conforms to the spirit and principles on which the EU is founded," he added.
Italy and Conte himself had received "many manifestations of solidarity" in meetings with European leaders but now these statements needed to be "transformed into action," he said.
"We expect these words to be transformed into action. This is the perfect opportunity," he underlined.
Migration is to be a central topic at the European Council summit taking place on Thursday and Friday as Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel fights for her political survival over the issue.
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Krunal's rare IPL fifty helps RCB beat DC and extend unbeaten away run
RCB jump to top of IPL 2025 points table
New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI): Krunal Pandya recorded his first fifty in IPL since 2016, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru pull off a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on a challenging Feroz Shah Kotla track here on Sunday.
Krunal (73 not out of 47 balls), who has part of every IPL season since his debut in 2016, paced his innings perfectly while batting alongside chase master Virat Kohli (51 off 47).
The duo shared a 119-run stand off 84 balls as RCB chased down 163 in 18.3 overs to extend their unbeaten run away from home.
RCB bowlers put a squeeze on Delhi Capitals in the middle overs through Josh Hazlewood and the spinners to limit the home team to 162 for six.
For RCB, it was their seventh win in 10 games while DC suffered only their third loss in nine matches. Both teams are on course to make the play-offs.
At 26 for three, RCB felt the heat before Krunal and Kohli bailed them out.
In his maiden season for RCB, Krunal has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball.
On Sunday night, Kohli played the perfect anchor as Krunal came up with timely hits on a difficult surface to deliver a fine win for his team. His straight hit through the line off Mukesh Kumar and an aerial drive over cover off the wily Kuldeep Yadav stood out among his four sixes.
Kohli's consistency has been remarkable this season and the knock against DC was his sixth 50-plus score in 10 innings. The highlight of his solid effort was the straight drive off Mitchell Starc.
The night, however, belonged to Krunal who collected only his second 50-plus score in 116 IPL innings.
Earlier, K L Rahul (41 off 39 balls) was the top-scorer for DC but it was Tristian Stubbs (34 off 18 balls) who helped the hosts post a fighting total.
RCB put the opposition in to bat, expecting better batting conditions during the run chase.
Faf du Plessis (22 off 26 balls) returned from injury to join Abhishek Porel (28 off 11) at the top of the order but it was the latter who ensured DC reached 52 for two in the powerplay.
The southpaw, who has been in fine form this season, came up with a couple of sizzling sixes in his entertaining cameo. Both came off Bhuvneshwar Kumar -- one was a left-handed hit over mid-wicket and the second was a pick-up shot over fine leg.
As veteran du Plessis struggled to get going at the other end, Porel found the ropes with relative ease.
Lead RCB pacer Hazlewood, who has been relentless with his hard lengths, took three balls to get the breakthrough as he cramped Porel to have him caught behind down the leg side.
Karun Nair, who began with a short arm pull off Hazlewood for a boundary, played an ordinary shot off Yash Dayal in the following over and his mishit was pouched at mid-wicket.
The spinners got into operation after the powerplay and overs 7-10 was the phase when RCB were able to stem the flow of runs, conceding just 20 runs off the four overs from Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya, who got rid of du Plessis in that period.
It was only towards the end of the innings that DC managed to get some momentum, all thanks to the blitzkrieg from Stubbs.
The 18th and 19th over from Hazlewood and Dayal yielded 17 and 19 runs, enabling DC to cross the 160-run mark.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 162 for 8 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 41; Bhuveshwar Kumar 3/33).
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 165 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73, Virat Kohli 51; Axar Patel 2/19).
