Italy has no right to ask Malta to accept the stranded migrant rescue ship Lifeline, according to Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said that Malta should take in the 226 migrants and arrest the crew.
But the Maltese leader responded defiantly, saying: "We're a sovereign country and nobody should dictate what we can and cannot do".
A similar case earlier this month led Spain to accept 630 migrants.