Rome Not to Sign Migration Deal if Berlin Remains 'Deaf to Requests' - Salvini

"This agreement has been on my desk for several weeks already, but I have not signed it yet. We have always told the Germans that the deal should be part of a far-reaching agreement, we want to change the Dublin system and new rules for the ships rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean," Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told Die Presse newspaper on Friday.

According to the official, the agreement is now being negotiated with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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"I stand by my opinion — I will not sign anything as long as Germany is deaf to our requests and does not accept all of our demands," Salvini said.

In mid-September, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced that Germany had reached an agreement with Italy to extradite illegal immigrants. Speaking in the Bundestag, the minister did not provide any details of the deal, explaining that it had not yet been signed by him or his Italian counterpart and would take some time to finalize.

Italy, one of the first entry points for migrants in Europe, has been seeking to review the Dublin Regulation, which allows for refugees to be sent back to the country where they first entered the continent. Rome claims that the regulation is inadequate for managing migration flows and calls for a fairer migrant resettlement system.