4 EU members say they can’t take so many migrant arrivals

BY DEMETRIS NELLAS and COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Four Mediterranean European Union members have issued a joint statement weighing on a dispute over a deal for Europe to jointly help asylum-seekers. In their statement released Saturday, Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus repeated already stated positions that they “cannot subscribe to the notion that countries of first entry are the only possible European landing spots for illegal immigrants.” condemned the operations of private vessels. The statement was issued in the aftermath of a diplomatic flap between France and Italy over the fate of “Ocean Viking”, a vessel finally allowed to dock in a French port Friday. France announced it was withdrawing from a “solidarity agreement” to share the burden of migrant reception and urged other EU members to do the same.