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Summer makes it easier for migrants to cross the Mediterranean, so Italy is struggling to cope with another influx of refugees. And like before, its European partners are doing too little to help. The Italiangovernment is asking for a new approach, and it's right: The EU should see this as a pan-European issue, requiring a pan-European response.

More than 84,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea in the first six months of this year, nearly 20 percent more than in the first half of 2016. In future, the pressure on Italy's southern shores will only increase, as the demographic boom in Africa and Asia leads more young people to risk their lives for a brighter future in Europe.

The EU's Dublin Regulation says the country in which an asylum-seeker first enters the union must process his or her case. This shouldn't mean leaving that country to bear nearly all of the costs. In practice, it's meant something close to that.

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Granted, the EU has taken some steps to share the expense. Frontex, the agency patrolling the common border, has seen its budget increase from less than 20 million euros in 2006 to 300 million euros this year. Last week the European Commission approved a financial package with another 35 million euros for Italy to deal with the new surge of migrants, and 46 million euros to help the authorities in Libya, a main point of departure.

Still, this is only a fraction of what Italy is spending and will continue to spend each year. The Commission has graciously allowed Italy to cover this cost by borrowing more than the EU's deficit rules would otherwise permit -- adding more debt to a pile that's already one of Europe's biggest. Italy's taxpayers might reasonably see that as adding insult to injury.

The EU should set up a sizable common fund which member states can use to cover costs relating to the migrant crisis. Permitted spending could range from rescuing ships at sea to helping refugees into the labor market. The fund should be able to borrow, with a joint EU guarantee, and with the European Commission overseeing how the money is used.

Many of Italy's EU partners still see the migrant crisis as not their problem. That's grossly unfair -- and from Italy's point of view, unaffordable. If European solidarity means anything, the EU will finally, belatedly, put this right.

--Editors: Ferdinando Giugliano, Clive Crook

To contact the senior editor responsible for Bloomberg Views editorials: David Shipley at davidshipley@bloomberg.net .

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Italy's Migrant Crisis Is Europe's Problem - Bloomberg

Packed into a small wooden boat, migrants wait to be rescued off Lampedusa in May this year. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Anyone looking for an insight into the growing disillusionment of ordinary Italians as their country is left to deal alone with a summer surge of migrants on its southern shores should contemplate the fate of Giusi Nicolini, the former mayor of Lampedusa.

Earlier this year Nicolini won Unescos Flix Houphout-Boigny peace prize for the great humanity and constant commitment with which she has managed a migration crisis that began in earnest during the summer of 2011, as the Arab spring turned north African societies upside down.

A politician from the centre-left Democratic party, Nicolini also won the Olof Palme prize in 2016 and was among the Italians celebrated at a dinner with former US president Barack Obama at the White House in October.

But as she travelled the world and courted the media, regularly appearing on Italian TV and portraying the tiny island of around 6,000 people as a safe haven for migrants, discontent simmered back on Lampedusa, closer to Tunisia than mainland Italy, where she held office. Islanders made their feelings known last month when Nicolini was resoundingly ousted from her post, coming third in municipal elections with just 908votes.

It wasnt a surprise to us that she lost, said Salvatore Martello, a hotel owner and fisherman who won the election running independently from Italys main parties. In the years she was mayor, she curated an image abroad of the island and the migrant situation, forgetting its people.

Among many Italians, patience is running out as repeated calls for greater assistance from the rest of Europe in dealing with the crisis are ignored. France and Austria are deploying draconian means to ensure migrants remain on Italian soil in overpopulated reception centres.

Recently Italys interior minister, Marco Minniti, called on non-Italian European ports to open up to the migrant rescue ships that assist some of the thousands of migrants arriving on Italys southern shores each week.

Martello, a leftwinger who said during his campaign that he cannot stand seeing migrants swarming everywhere, became mayor of Lampedusa a week or so before figures revealed the number of those risking their lives by attempting to cross the deadly stretch of the Mediterranean between Libya and Europe had increased by 70% within the first six months of this year. An estimated 2,000 people had drowned along the way. But does Nicolinis defeat truly mean that islanders, many of whom have rallied to offer their homes, food and clothing to migrants, have now hardened their hearts?

Martello has been elected mayor before, the first time for a nine-year term beginning in 1993, two years after three Tunisians were found hiding in Hotel Medusa, marking the start of Lampedusas transformation as a stepping-stone for migrants. As a fisherman, Martello was among those who helped save people from rickety wooden boats during that period. Some of those boats are on display around the island.

He told the Observer that the island would continue to be welcoming, but that his priorities must focus on improving the lives of local people.

We need to distinguish between migration policy and the management of both Lampedusa and [the neighbouring isle] of Linosa, he said. We have some serious problems, many of which are the same problems that were there when I was mayor for the first time.

The issues that need to be addressed include improving health services anyone in critical need of care must fly to Sicily. There is also no maternity facility at the local hospital, with pregnant women forced to travel to Sicily a month before their due date. Other problems include a lack of drinkable water, a sketchy waste management system and a shortage of jobs for young people.

During Nicolinis time as mayor, solidarity visits by the actress Angelina Jolie in 2011, and by Pope Francis a few months after he became pontiff in 2013, highlighted the islands challenges. Then came the tragedy of October of that year, when 350 people perished not far from the famed Rabbit Beach, which regularly ranks among the worlds best in travel surveys.

Photographs of those who arrived safely, from Tunisia, Syria and elsewhere, still adorn the walls of the mayoral office. Leaflets advertising a recent immigration seminar hosted on the island are scattered across a table, while a poster for the Oscar-nominated Fuocoammare (Fire At Sea), a documentary that contrasts the migrant crisis with everyday life on the island, stands close to the buildings entrance. But the mood has undoubtedlychanged.

The do-gooders talk about helping migrants that is until they are housed next door to them, said Martello.

Around 200 people are currently staying at the refugee shelter, a building tucked away in the centre of the island that has often been criticised for its appalling living conditions. Migrants set fire to it in May in protest. Technically, they are not allowed to leave the centre, but have been able to crawl out through a hole in a fence to wander the island.

Martello said he has no plans to stop that, if rules are respected. And the same applies to everyone else, headded.

Migrants remain in the centre for up to a month before being moved elsewhere in Italy. The situation does not impact on islanders lives as much as it did in the past, but they still wanted change in their leadership.

People didnt like Nicolini because she put herself first, said Vincenzo Esposito, a fisherman for 50years. Yes, it was right to help migrants, but millions have been spent on that and not on our basic needs if you want to have a tooth out, you have to fly to Palermo. Even if you just want to leave for a holiday, there are hardly anyflights.

Esposito also helped migrants when they first started to arrive in the 1990s, offering food, cigarettes and money whatever was on board his fishing boat. He said the shipwreck of October 2013 had also pierced the hearts of islanders.

But amid a feeling of abandonment, those hearts became weary. A local historian, who asked to remain anonymous, put it more bluntly. Politicians and the media presented an image that was contrary to the reality, he said. Most people here dont care about migrants. He pointed to the example of one resident, who recently pressed for the bench opposite his home to be removed because migrants congregated around it.

We talk about being welcoming in Europe but the truth is that peoplearentbeing welcomed anywhere, theyre being pushed into whatever fate lies ahead, usually prostitution or drug dealing.

Still, in recent years Lampedusa has become a beacon of hope for those fighting for open-door policies, particularly following the endorsement of Unesco.

But the island has never been a place of unlimited generosity, said Daniela DeBono, a research fellow for the global governance programme at the European University Institute.

That was a big myth, she said, adding that she didnt think the recent election would change much.

Lampedusans are just like everyone else you get the racists, the super-humanitarians and those in between who are just trying to make sense of thesituation.

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'Do-gooders' no more: Lampedusans turn against refugee tide as patience wears thin - The Guardian

If you had to identify a nadir for the European Union, it would probably be the late summer of 2015. In those heady days, vast flows of people some refugees, some migrants streamed across Anatolia and the Mediterranean for the continent, intent on reaching the prosperous economies of its north and west, bolstered by Angela Merkels throwing open the doors to all who would come.

For Europes leaders, priding themselves on European values primary among them the prevention of atrocity within their territory it was more than an embarrassing affair: It cut at the heart of the European project itself. For the first time since the breakup of Yugoslavia, Europe found itself forced to grapple with a humanitarian crisis rudely intruding on its territory. In the international media, images circulated of refugees and migrants occupying train stations in the Balkans or, finding their way stymied, marching to Vienna on foot. With the populace alarmed by this vast influx, Europes vaunted system of passport-free internal travel collapsed, as countries began to impose passport checks at their borders to stop the flow. Hungary built a wall on its southern border. Austria, Slovenia, Denmark, and even Germany reestablished border controls. Countries were unable, or unwilling, to cooperate: Each sought to place the burden on its neighbors, with the result that the crisis festered for months. For a time it looked as if the European Union might not survive in its current form, its manifest inadequacy to address the crisis having become all too clear.

The aftermath of the refugee crisis played itself out in the great dramas of 2016 Britains shocking vote to leave the EU in June; the palpable rise of euroskepticism and populism throughout the year; and in November, the election as president of the United States of Donald Trump, a candidate who had in many ways run more against Angela Merkel than against his actual opponent. In 2017, however, the last remnants of Europes collective refugee-related paroxysm finally seemed to fade away, as Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen both turned in disappointing performances in their respective national elections.

Now Europe is back, symbolized by the resolutely regal Emmanuel Macron, whose victory over Le Pen provided the final impetus for European rejuvenation.

Or is it?

The migration crisis was, to a very large extent, the source of Europes recent ills, providing a lightning rod for all on left and right alike who sought to impugn the existing order. Only with its superficial dispelling partly through a deal with Turkey, partly through a natural ebb in the flow of people could Europe recover, though with the root causes of the problem left largely unresolved. Were it to return, the situation would revert to the dire state of two years ago.

And return it has. The focus of migration has shifted from the Aegean and Balkans to the Mediterranean but the situation is much the same. Migrant flows across the Mediterranean, from Libya to southern Italy, have seen a sharp uptick in recent months. Consider that 85,000 people have landed in Italy this year, with 12,000 coming in a 48-hour period in late June.

The Italians are understandably worried, especially in the light of upcoming national elections early next year. In a country that already boasts a potent populist party Beppe Grillos Five Star Movement, which now controls the mayoralties of Turin and Rome the image of migrant-induced chaos could be enough to cause great disturbances in the current system.

So too in Austria, which will hold elections in October. The far Right nearly won that countrys presidency late last year, and the migrant question still carries politically charged connotations. The Austrian defense minister announced earlier this week his intention of sending troops and tanks to the Tyrol, on the Italian border, for the purposes of blocking the entry of migrants into his country. Already maintaining border checks with Hungary and Slovenia, Austria may soon institute them with Italy as well. The announcement seems sure to provoke tensions with Italy, demonstrating a palpable lack of intra-European cooperation at the time when Europe needs it most, and suggesting that the resolution to the 2015 crisis was little more than facial.

The ball is thus in Europes court. We have heard much about the vaunted European recovery, but that talk means little without concrete action. The problem that vexed Europe in 2015 was an abject lack of cooperation between the EUs member states, which would rather pass the buck to Brussels or to other countries than address the issue themselves. That tendency in European affairs has not gone away; it has simply been permitted to dissipate along with the refugee flows from the east. Italy has recently proposed that European ports be opened to some migrant-carrying vessels, thus ameliorating to a degree the burden on Italian ports. Germany vetoed the proposal, while various Eurocrats argued that the responsibility should be shared with the north African countries from which the migrants come. The stage is set for a second round of European inaction. A sense of real leadership is required, but little seems to be on offer.

Perhaps that leadership could come from Emmanuel Macron, for whom this ongoing crisis represents a first testing of the waters. Much has been made of the newly minted French presidents professed desire to reign over his country as Jupiter did over the Roman pantheon, to fill the patriarchal void with which the French have grappled ever since the execution of Louis XVI in 1793. Macron stands as a benevolent authoritarian, but a youthful, charismatic one, enamored with the idea of Europe and intent on defending the Continent and his country against the populist menace. Now is the time to see whether he is worth all the talk, or whether his audacious imperial stylings are just posturing. If France and Germany really are to stand astride the new Europe, fitfully dragging it into the future, this is the first test. Can Merkel and Macron, the experienced old hand and the ambitious neophyte, forge intra-European cooperation out of what little of it has existed? Will their partnership be able to work with the smaller, less powerful European countries to fashion an equitable solution, or will they simply reach yet another impasse?

This initial hurdle comes at a less than ideal time for Macron. He has expressed his hope that the first months of his presidency will be spent overhauling Frances sclerotic labor laws, over the vociferous opposition of the powerful trade unions. For the sake of political expediency, he intended to do this as soon as possible: preferably this summer by executive decree, during the vacation months, when the unions will find organizing large-scale protests a logistical challenge. When the protests begin after the rentre in September, the reforms will be a fait accompli. But this is no simple task: It would require enormous time and energy. That time will now have to be devoted to devising a European solution to the renewed migrant crisis as well. With domestic imperative balanced against continental crisis, Macron will soon have to determine where his true priorities lie and whether he commands the political capacity to address two crucial issues simultaneously.

If Europe is back, its spirit renewed, its political will reinvigorated, now is the time to prove it. The ongoing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean provides the venue. Without a satisfactory resolution, Europe may well find itself sliding back into September 2015, with all the malignant political consequences that followed. The honeymoon is over.

READ MORE: Listen to Eastern Europe: Muslim Migration Waves Are a Pressing Problem Viktor Orban on Hungary and the Crisis of Europe Terrorism Is Not Random: We Must Look at Muslim Immigration with Clear Eyes

Noah Daponte-Smith is an intern at National Review and a student of modern history and politics at Yale University.

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The Second European Migrant Crisis Begins - National Review

BBC News

Migrant crisis: 'Hipster right' group trying to stop rescue ships BBC News They call themselves Generation Identity. Made up of mainly 20-something tech-savvy members, the Identitarian movement has been described as the hipster right. Fiercely anti-immigration and anti-Muslim, its aim is to stop mass migration to Europe. Here come the MOB: How the mafia are moving in on aid money being poured in to deal with Europe's migrant crisisDaily Mail Italy push to resolve migrant crisis: G20Sky News Australia 'Millions of Africans' will flood Europe unless it acts now, warns European chief, as Paris evacuates huge migrant campTelegraph.co.uk The Seattle Times -SBS -The Philadelphia Tribune -Amnesty International all 151 news articles »

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Migrant crisis: 'Hipster right' group trying to stop rescue ships - BBC News

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed Saturday the gathering at the G20 summit "honored" Turkey's role in managing the migrant crisis driven by Syria's civil war and other conflicts, adding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoan had engaged in the talks.

"Turkey and President [Recep Tayyip] Erdooan showed a lot of commitment. He was very much engaged on the whole agenda of the summit and gave his contribution," Merkel told a news conference at the end of the two-day summit in Hamburg.

"We also paid tribute to Turkey's efforts for the refugees, and he also pointed out these efforts again during the discussion round on migration," she added.

Merkel recalled that she and Erdoan held a bilateral meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of the summit, where they discussed recent political disagreements between the two countries.

"This meeting has shown that we have profound differences," she said, and stressed that they had openly discussed these differences, rather than "sweeping them under the carpet".

Relations between Turkey and Germany first became strained when local authorities canceled public appearances of Turkish ministers and government officials campaigning ahead of the April 16 referendum in several different German towns and cities. Officials based the cancellations on poor excuses such as inadequate parking lots and security concerns; however they allowed no-campaigners and PKK sympathizers to rally.

Other disputes center on Germany's decision to withdraw its troops from the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey and on German-Turkish journalist Deniz Ycel, who was imprisoned by Turkey on terror charges earlier this year.

Turkey did not allow German lawmakers to visit their soldiers stationed at Incirlik, due to controversial statements, mostly made by lawmakers from the socialist Die Linke party (The Left) who publicly announced their support to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the U.S.

Ahead of parliamentary elections in September, Angela Merkel's coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), took a surprise decision and demanded withdrawing German soldiers from ncirlik, in protest to Turkey's stance.

The latest dispute came up when German opposed to Erdoan's official request to hold an event to address Turkish citizens living in Germany on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Last Friday, Berlin officially banned representatives of foreign governments from campaigning on German soil within three months of polls in their county, dpa said.

German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Martin Schaefer also announced that government representatives from within the European Union were excluded from the ban, and added that the new rule was communicated to all foreign embassies in Berlin.

On the eve of the summit, Erdoan warned that Germany was "committing political suicide", by refusing to let him address members of the large Turkish community in the country.

"Germany must correct this error," Erdoan said in an interview with weekly magazine Die Zeit, arguing that "he could not be silenced".

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G20 'honored' Turkey's role in managing migrant crisis, Merkel says - Daily Sabah