EU Commission ‘won’t bow to Italian threat’ on migration

The European Commission said Friday it will follow rules governing migration, rather than bow to threats, “such as [those] made by an Italian minister” to distribute migrants held on a coast guard ship in Sicily, Reuters reports. Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said Italy will take a “hard line” to withhold EU funds at a meeting with the Commission and envoys from a dozen member states in Brussels to discuss disembarkation from the ship Diciotti. “Finding a solution for the people on board is our main priority,” Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein said. “We also believe unconstructive comments, let alone threats, are not helpful and will not get us any closer to a solution. The EU is a community of rules and it operates on the basis of rules, not threats,” he added.