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KEY POINTS Spain has agreed to let a ship carrying over 600 migrants to dock in Valencia.

Italy had previously refused to let the vessel dock at any of its ports.

Rome had then demanded that the Mediterranean island of Malta accept the vessel instead. It refused, prompting a diplomatic rift.

Search and rescue ship, the MV Aquarius, operated by SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières.

Italy's deputy prime minister claimed "victory" over a decision to refuse the docking of a migrant rescue ship carrying 629 people. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday afternoon that his country would give "safe harbor" to the Aquarius after both Italy and Malta refused to let the ship disembark on its shores. Sanchez said the ship will instead dock in Valencia. Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing Lega party and the new deputy prime minister said in a tweet that victory had been achieved. Tweet 1 According to Reuters, Salvini added in a press conference that raising Italy's voice on migration had paid off and although the standoff had been resolved by Spain's "good heart," the European Union could not rely on similar gestures going forward. Salvini had revealed the new government's stance against immigration on Sunday by refusing to allow the search and rescue ship "Aquarius," which is carrying 629 migrants, to dock in an Italian port, saying Malta was nearer the ship's location and that it should accept the vessel. Malta refused, promoting a diplomatic rift with Italy and leaving the migrant vessel in limbo. In a statement released with Danilo Toninelli, the minister in charge of the Italian coastguard, Salvini said Malta "cannot continue to look the other way when it comes to respecting precise international conventions on the protection of human life." "That's why we ask the government in Valletta to take in the Aquarius in order to offer first aid to the migrants on board," the statement, widely reported by Italian media, said.

Malta refused, however, with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat saying that Malta "will not take the vessel in its ports." Malta said the rescue was not conducted in waters where it coordinates search and rescue operations, therefore it was not the appropriate authority to take on the vessel. Muscat rebuffed Italy's claims that the island was not abiding by international obligations and called on Italy to accept the vessel rather than risk "creating a dangerous situation for all those involved." Tweet: As of Monday morning, the vessel is located between Sicily and Malta, ship tracker VesselFinder.com showed. On Monday afternoon, Sanchez gave it instructions for it to be admitted to the eastern port of Valencia, according to Reuters.

Rift with Malta

Salvini, who is also Italy's new interior minister in a coalition government led by Lega and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, took to Facebook Sunday to insist that Malta — and the rest of Europe — were not doing their fair share to accept migrants trying to reach the continent by boat. "In the Mediterranean there are ships with the flag of Holland, Spain, Gibraltar and Great Britain, there are German and Spanish non-governmental organizations, (NGOs), and there is Malta that does not welcome anyone, there is France that rejects at the border, there is Spain that defends its borders with weapons, in short, all of Europe is minding its own business," Salvini said, as well as using the Twitter hashtag "chiudiamoiporti" (We're closing the ports). "From now also Italy begins to say no to the traffic of human beings, no to the business of illegal immigration. My goal is to guarantee a peaceful life for these children in Africa and for our children in Italy," he added.

Northern League (LN) leader Matteo Salvini speaks with the press on May 28, 2018 after leaving the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Italy. Michele Spatari | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Ship in limbo