A diplomatic row over an NGO ship that docked in France last week with 234 rescued migrants on board, who were stranded at sea for nearly three weeks after Italy refused to disembark them, will not harm wider bilateral relations, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday.
The 'Ocean Viking' case would not have "repercussions" on other European issues on which Italy and France agree, Tajani told reporters after a European Union foreign ministers' meeting.
"There was an exchange of views on the subject, but we certainly don't want to fuel any conflict with France or indeed with Germany," Tajani said.
"We raised the issue of immigration but I don't think this has any bearing at all on the other questions."
"The foreign affairs council meeting went very calmly... we argued that the issue of migration is a European problem, not just Italy, France's or Germany's...I underlined that the matter must be tackled and resolved at EU level. Aside from the Mediterranean route there is also the Balkan one. It affects a great many (EU) states," Tajani underlined.
