Dublin – “While wishing you happy St. Patrick’s Day, I wish to express the deepest gratitude for your decision to celebrate Irish National Day in Rome. It’s an important sign of real and lasting friendship between our countries.” With these words the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, welcomes his Irish colleague Charles Flanagan today at Farnesina. “We greatly value the Irish plan to relocate from Italy 360 asylum seekers. Ireland is in no way linked to measures of relocation decided by the EU Council, so this gesture is for us a great sign of solidarity” added Alfano, talking with Flanagan about migration issues and the European asylum policy. The two Ministers also discussed the future of the European Union: “The Rome summit will be a historic turning point for the European project and to strengthen the EU’s internal cohesion”. In view of the start of Brexit, Alfano assured the Irish colleague “the full Italian support in Dublin and Brussels searching for a practical solution that will allow Ireland to preserve peace and to maintain excellent relations with London.” (9Colonne)
