The EU has hit back at a threat by Italy’s populist government to halt its budget payments to Brussels amid a row over a migrant rescue ship, as Italian prosecutors travel to Rome to question the far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini about the illegal detention of the migrants onboard.

The investigation, conducted by the prosecutor of the Sicilian city of Agrigento, was launched against “unknowns” but it is clear that if the magistrates were to go ahead with a judicial proceeding, Salvini, who is not being investigated at the moment, would end up under investigation, being responsible for the landing ban, sources said.

Italy is facing a violation of the article 5 of the European convention on human rights. Under its terms, asylum seekers detained for more than 48 hours should be immediately released and should be given the opportunity to apply for a refugee status. On Thursday, the Italian deputy prime minister threatened to suspend his country’s financial contribution to the EU if Brussels did not intervene and redistribute the 150 refugees and migrantsonboard the coastguard ship Ubaldo Diciotti.(theguardian)…[+]