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Salvini: This Is The First Time A Migrant Ship From Libya Was Turned Away From Italy

(Photo by Mauro Ujetto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said a migrant ship’s arrival in Spain marked the first time Italy turned away such a vessel from Libya, he claimed on Facebook Sunday.

Salvini, who was sworn into office on June 1, said that Italy is no longer Europe’s doormat after denying the migrant ship Aquarius from docking at an Italian port on June 9, according to a video the interior minister posted to Facebook. The vessel carrying 629 migrants from Libya ultimately docked in Valencia, Spain.

“The Aquarius arrives in Spain. For the first time, a ship from Libya destined for Italy docks in a different country: a sign that something is changing, we are no longer the doormats of Europe,” Salvini wrote.

Salving previously said the rescue ship should instead dock in Malta since they “do not take anybody,” the BBC reported(RELATED: Italian Prime Minister Prepared To Cancel France Visit After Macron Denounced Italy For Refusing Migrants)

“While the Aquarius navigates to Spain, two other NGO ships with a Dutch flag arrived off the coast of Libya. They know that Italy no longer wants to complicit with the illegal immigration business and they will have to look for other ports where they can head to,” Salvini wrote on Twitter Saturday. (RELATED: Italy’s New Prime Minister Stresses Eurosceptic Ideas In First Speech To Parliament)

The “music has changed,” he said in another tweet. (RELATED: Conte: ‘The Time Has Come To Change The Page’ On Immigration In Europe)

Salvini previously told migrants “pack your bags” in a vow to crack down on immigration during in rally in Italy at the beginning of June.

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