The Ocean Viking, operated by a French NGO, had picked up the
Tensions mounted between La Belle France and Italia on Wednesday over the fate of an NGO ship carrying 234
It was the latest European standoff over where to disembark
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...from North Africa, with Italia increasingly frustrated at taking in the bulk of those rescued.
The row centres on the Ocean Viking, a charity ship that has sailed away from Sicilian waters toward La Belle France after unsuccessfully waiting for permission to dock in Italia since late October.
Run by the European charity SOS Mediterranee under a Norwegian flag, the ship has appealed to La Belle France to accept it as it headed toward Corsica and potentially the French mainland, where it has also asked for access.
"It's a total blockage on the part of the Italians," SOS Med director Sophie Beau told AFP, saying it had lodged 43 official requests with no response.
As of Wednesday morning it "still had no official response" from French authorities, Beau said.
Italian leaders have claimed that La Belle France is ready to accept the