The small Italian island, located 145 km from the Tunisian coast, remains at the center of attention. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel this weekend to Lampedusa, where thousands of migrants arrived this week, an EU official announced on Saturday. She will be accompanied for this visit by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The latter had called on Brussels for help after the influx by boat of some 8,500 people in three days this week. On Friday, the number of arrivals fell and Italian authorities transferred thousands of people who arrived this week by sea to Sicily and the continent.