Matteo Salvini

Matteo Salvini, Italy's new far-right minister of the interior, refused to let 'Aquarius', a private ship carrying 629 refugees, to dock. This is the first time that political rhetoric from an Italian interior minister has been enforced.  While Italian ports may remain open to its own rescue boats, the docks are expected to be closed to all NGOs, which have been accused of aiding illegal immigration in the past. The tiny island of Malta also rejected the Aquarius, but Spain has agreed to welcome it.

The “Freedom for Europe” conference is set to take place on January 21 in Koblenz, Germany. The event is being organized by the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) movement, and will bring together Eurosceptics from Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and and the Netherlands.
ENF is a political alliance of Eurosceptics in the European Parliament. It was setup back in 2015 and currently unites 40 MEPs from different EU countries and parties. The largest party of the group is France’s National Front, representing half of ENF’s MEPs.