Gérald Darmanin will travel to Italy “in the coming days”, according to the Elysée

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin will visit “in the coming days” in Italy to meet his counterpart Matteo Piantedosi, while thousands of migrants arrived this week in Lampedusa, the Elysée announced on Saturday September 16 after a telephone conversation between Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni.

The Head of State and the Head of the Italian Government committed during their meeting to “strengthen cooperation at European level (…) to find effective, immediate and longer-term solutions to this crisis”specified the Elysée.

A Franco-Italian action?

Emmanuel Macron and Georgia Meloni also mentioned “joint action” which could be carried out by Paris and Rome in the Mediterranean, added the French presidency, without further details.

Between Monday and Wednesday, around 8,500 people, more than the entire population of Lampedusa, arrived on 199 boats, according to figures from the United Nations migration agency. The migrant reception center built on the Italian island is planned for fewer than 400 people. This migration crisis has been the subject of intense diplomatic activity for 48 hours.