Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused NGO rescue boats of acting as a pull factor for migrants. Photo: GULIELMO MANGIAPANE/REUTERS
Giorgia Meloni criticized Olaf Scholz in a letter, accusing Germany of funding rescue workers who bring migrants to Italian shores from the Mediterranean.
The Italian Prime Minister wrote to the German Chancellor, saying, that she was “surprised” that Berlin was funding NGOs without informing Rome.
Her letter, seen by Reuters, said: “I was surprised to learn that your administration — without coordination with Italian government — allegedly decided to support significant funds to non-governmental organizations involved in the reception of illegal migrants in Italy and rescue in the Mediterranean Sea.»
“I believe that the efforts, including financial ones, of EU countries interested in providing concrete support to Italy should rather focus on developing structural solutions to the problem of migration,” the prime minister wrote in a letter dated September 23.
Germany should focus on helping migrants on its own soil, she said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's foreign ministry said rescuing people at sea was a «legal, humanitarian and moral duty.» Photo: LISSY NISNER/REUTERS
Ms Meloni accused NGO rescue boats of acting as a pull factor for migrants weighing the dangers of crossing the Mediterranean.
Rescue charities deny this, saying that migrants are trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. from North Africa, regardless of whether they operate in the area.
Most rescue operations are now actually carried out by the Italian Navy, Coast Guard and Guardia di Finanza, customs and border police.
Some Italian far-right coalition politicians have said that if German NGOs send rescue ships to sea, they should be required to take migrants to Germany rather than disembark them at Italian ports.
Matteo Salvini, deputy prime minister and head of the coalition's League party, called it «disgraceful» that the German government was funding rescue ships.
«Foreign governments are funding private foreign groups to flood Italy with illegal migrants . Shameful, unacceptable,” he wrote on the social network X.
“Shame and outrage.”
Later that day, at a public event, he said: “It is a shame, an outrage and a hostile act that foreign countries are funding foreign private associations to bring illegal immigrants to Italy.
“It is as if Italy financed associations in France, Germany or God knows where to promote abuses.»
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Mr Salvini, who is also transport minister, demanded that Berlin «stop funding those who participates in the unacceptable flow of illegal immigrants into our country.»
Italy is struggling to cope with a surge in migrant arrivals. 133,000 people have reached Italy this year, compared with 70,000 in the same period last year.
Guido Crosetto, the defense minister, also accused Germany of adding to Italy's burden by sponsoring rescue boats.
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He said that German financial support for rescue teams was not what Italy expected from a friend and ally.
“I would expect help and solidarity in difficult times, as we Italians are accustomed to deal with all countries when they are in difficult situations,” the minister said.
He said he would prefer to see Germany help crack down on human trafficking gangs and contribute to an Italian plan to raise billions of euros for investment in African countries to discourage people from leaving in the first place.
Germany's Foreign Ministry said it was providing financial support for both civilian maritime rescue vessels and land-based projects, insisting that rescuing people at sea is a «legal, humanitarian and moral duty.»
This involves providing €790,000 in funding to the German NGO SOS. Humanity rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean after they set off on boats from Libya and Tunisia.
The latest migration crisis has already increased tensions between Italy and France due to France's efforts to prevent migrants from crossing their shared border. which stretches from the Italian Riviera to the Maritime Alps.
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