#ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS MEANING FULL#

In Spain, the Mayor of Valencia’s disgust at Salvini’s actions was clear, and he was right to state that accepting the Aquarius is part of what it means to be a “City of Refuge”, as Valencia has defined itself. Following the Mayor of Napoli’s lead, one after another they stood up to declare that the Aquarius could dock. The reaction of the mayors of seven of Italy’s port cities was also admirable. Thankfully another new government stepped into the breach: there was both great relief and strong support when Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish Prime Minister, cut through the prevarication and buck-shifting by offering to take the ship.

Representatives of Cinque Stelle’s radical leftist strands have condemned Salvini’s actions – and Cinque Stelle was punished royally in local elections at the weekend, probably for its “lethal embrace” with Lega, as the coalition agreement has been dubbed.

#ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS MEANING FULL#

Lega’s coalition partner Cinque Stelle is a strange beast, containing very different factions interested in different issues – unlike Lega which has become a one issue party (anti-migration full stop). In addition, fractures are emerging in the government.

Although we were warned – and there have been decades of similar incidents in the Mediterranean – it is still shocking to see political games and macho posturing taking place while 630 people sit on a rescue ship in the middle of the sea.īy jumping into a conflict on disembarkation Salvini might have undermined the government’s chances of realising its other objectives: reform of the Dublin Regulation will require cooperation with EU partners and the return of people to countries of origin requires cooperation with their governments, hardly likely to be enhanced by this event (and Salvini had already offended Tunisia with racist comments just as arrivals from there increased meaning cooperation will be needed.) It was a predictable move from Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini: of the various promises on migration in the Italian “government contract”, disembarkation is the one that lies most squarely within the power of the Minister. But for every action there is a reaction and it also showed that every negative inhumane action will be met with countless positive counter-reactions, in this case from cities, civil society, religious and (some) political leaders. The stand-off over the Aquarius rescue ship revealed yet again the tragic humanitarian consequences of Europe’s migration policy.

Actions speak louder than words meaning