| ROME Denmark and Italy are asking other countries to back a letter criticising the European Court of Human Rights for going "too far" in interpreting the law, particularly on migration issues. Read more.
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ROME | ATHENS
Italy-Greece: A new migration axis. Italy and Greece met on Monday for an intergovernmental summit, which Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described at the joint press conference as “substantial and decisive,” rather than just a “routine” diplomatic meeting. The two countries, sharing a similar geostrategic outlook in the Mediterranean, are closely aligned on key issues, particularly defense and migration, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said. Mitsotakis highlighted that the Greek government, after years of pushing for a shift in EU migration policy, has found the “right partner” in the Meloni government to tackle this challenge with the “correct approach.” Meloni stressed that their goal is to solidify a new EU approach to migration management, and noted how the focus was moved in the last couple of years from internal redistribution to securing external borders, deportations, and cooperation with origin and transit countries. Meloni noted that Italy and Greece bear the “burden of being primary arrival countries,” but argued that both are now part of the solution, not the problem. (Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)
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LISBON
Portugal: Minister hopes EU can reach 'understanding' with US to avoid tariffs.Portugal's finance minister said on Monday that the government hopes the European Union (EU) can reach an understanding with the United States to avoid imposing tariffs, on the day that a pause was announced between Washington and Beijing. "I have said [...] that we need to negotiate, that we need to sit down at the table with the American administration, that there is a negotiating process underway and that Europe needs to look at what its interests are, but try to reach an understanding so that there are no tariffs or that [...] they are as mitigated as possible," said finance minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, in Brussels. The statement, made on arrival at the Eurogroup meeting, comes on the day it was announced that the United States and China will suspend most customs duties for 90 days. “Tariffs harm economies and, above all, they harm consumers with lower incomes and, therefore, both Europe and the other economic blocs are doing their job of sitting down with the US administration and understanding what can be achieved in this issue of negotiating tariffs,” added Joaquim Miranda Sarmento. (Ana Matos Neves – edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt) | 