defense ministers are meeting today for a second day in vienna also talking about operation sophia barbara bezel is covering the joint talks and joins us now from the austrian capital barbara operations appears currently achieving its aim of reducing people smuggling and preventing further deaths at sea why is it pushing to have a changed. it's really wants more of this. mission that's the point behind all this and it's a really high stakes gamble because the atmosphere here among the defense minister is quite partisan and because they feel blackmailed by italy to not allow you a fellow european naval vessels to enter your ports after they have maybe rescued a couple of hundred migrants at sea that is that's a pretty drastic step that really is an escalation of the ongoing battle off it's only against sea rescue against it taking in. for instance they've already done that what it's really really is to more or less completely end the sea rescue off migrants off the european union in front of the libyan coast and that's what all this is about what barbara is there any prospect of the defense

vai so she is covering the talks for us in vienna today hi barbara so operation sophia was supposed to prevent people smuggling and further deaths at sea why is it only pushing to have this changed. italy has such an ultimatum to the european union and that runs in fact tomorrow so defense ministers are under quite some pressure to come up with a solution however so far things seem to be quite intractable it's only doesn't want to accept the vessel itself its european neighbors which are engaged in emissions of fear anymore in their own harbors they say somebody else should take up france for instance or spain or whoever malta and sort of relieve it from the burden to have having to take in all those migrants not the point is that the figures have as we all know gone down dressed to kill you this year so this is a political issue it is not really any more about thousands and thousands of people arriving in italian ports but it is it an issue that the interior minister. is pushing day and night he wants to completely close off italy's from the italy from the arrival of a

of talks and after trying to as announcement operation sophia is likely to be the number one item on the agenda we have our correspondent barbara basell there covering the talks for us in vienna barbara good morning to you operations of fear was supposed to help stop people smuggling and prevent further deaths at sea why is it lee pushing to have this changed. it's really just want to except to the both of the other european countries anymore who are involved in the mission sophia it's simply one's to keep his harvest totally closed not only for n.-g. o. vessels we have already seen that all commercial vessels who are not allowed to disembark. harbors anymore ports anymore if they have migrants and ports but it also wants to close its harbor now for the other european countries for their military vessels and that is the next step in the escalating war between italy and the other european countries the point is and what it should be wants is for other countries france for instance or spain who are me if much farther away from the libyan coast where the migrants are rescued to open the harbor and to sort of take turns full for wh