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WORLD NEWS Friday 5 april 2019

Aid ship with 64 migrants stuck in Mediterranean Sea

By VANESSA GERA is German, with a German
PAOLO SANTALUCIA flag and a German crew
Associated Press ... let them solve the prob-
ROME (AP) — A humanitar- lem.”
ian aid ship carrying 64 res- He repeated his assertion
cued migrants was stuck in that the ship should be al-
the Mediterranean Sea on lowed to dock in Hamburg.
Thursday as both Italy and Weibl said that suggestion
Malta refused it safe har- was ridiculous.
bor, leaving the migrants The German city of Ham-
sleeping in cramped con- burg is not even located
ditions on deck as a storm on the Mediterranean Sea
approached. but on a river leading to the
Their refusal sets the stage North Sea.
for another Mediterranean “It’s a journey of three to
migrant standoff that can four weeks (to Hamburg).
only be resolved if some In this April 3, 2019 file photo, migrants on a rubber dinghy are approached by the Sea-Eye rescue We don’t have food and
European Union members ship in Mediterranean waters. water, so it’s completely
agree to accept the asy- Associated Press out of the question,” she
lum-seekers. are unlikely to get permis- sea since last week. line interior minister, said said.
Carlotta Weibl, spokes- sion from Italy.” “The chances are low that that his ministry sent a for- Similar standoffs in recent
woman for the German Sea-Eye’s ship, the Alan they are alive,” Weibl said. mal letter on Thursday to months involving rescue
humanitarian organization Kurdi, rescued the migrants The 64 migrants picked up the German government ships hoping to reach Italy
Sea-Eye, said the ship was Wednesday near Libya af- included an infant and a telling them the ship can- and Malta were eventu-
near the Italian island of ter Libyan authorities could child, the group said. But not dock in Italy and asking ally resolved when other EU
Lampedusa on Thursday. not be reached. It did so as Weibl said the ship is far them to intervene. He said members agreed to take
“We have no idea yet it was looking for another too small for so many peo- he also delivered that mes- some of the migrants.
where we can disembark,” smuggling boat with 50 mi- ple and that people were sage in person to a Ger- However, many of those
Weibl told The Associated grants that has been miss- sleeping outdoors on deck man government minister people remain stuck in mi-
Press. “Malta says we can’t ing since Monday and 40 as it began to rain. at a G-7 meeting in France. grant centers in Malta and
enter their waters and we other migrants missing at Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hard- He said that “since the ship Italy.q

Romanian leader rejects concerns about legal changes

By VADIM GHIRDA make it harder to prosecute high-level
Associated Press graft. “We urge the Romanian govern-
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — ment and all parties involved to take due
Romania’s prime minister on Thursday consideration of this joint statement and
rejected calls by ambassadors from 12 to reaffirm Romania’s political commit-
countries, including the United States ment to defend our shared values,” the
and Germany, to refrain from amending international diplomats said Wednesday
laws on fighting crime and corruption by in a Facebook posting on several of the
decree. embassies in question.
According to local reports, Prime Minister Dancila’s rejection of the request from
Viorica Dancila said ambassadors “do the Bucharest-based ambassadors
not set the prime minister’s agenda in came as center-right President Klaus Io-
any country” and urged them to “show hannis announced that a referendum
respect for Romania.” on May 26 would seek to ban the gov-
Her Social Democratic government has ernment from amending criminal law by
A woman shouts anti-government slogans as she hold European come under criticism, including from the emergency decrees as well as ban those
Union and NATO flags during a protest in Bucharest, Romania,
Saturday, March 30, 2019. European Union, for a series of changes convicted of crimes related to corruption
Associated Press to the judiciary that opponents say will from obtaining pardons or amnesty.q