Expresses “astonishment” in sharp letter to Berlin: Meloni complains to Scholz about German money for refugee aid

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (46) wrote a letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD) in which she complained about German funds for organizations that provide refugee aid in her country. In a letter on Saturday, the right-wing government leader stated that land aid would be better provided in Germany than in Italy. After criticism from Rome, the federal government appeared demonstratively calm on Monday.

“I was surprised to hear that your government, without consultation with the Italian government, has decided to allocate significant resources to non-governmental organizations working on the reception of irregular migrants on Italian territory and on rescue operations in the Mediterranean” , Meloni wrote in her letter to Scholz. EU countries that wanted to help Italy would be better off focusing on ‘structural solutions’, such as working with transit countries to block entry into Italy.

The head of government also repeated accusations that sea rescue organizations are a “pull” for migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa. Non-governmental organizations strongly reject this argument.

By 2023 there will be twice as many refugees in Italy as the year before

Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (FDI) party won Italy’s parliamentary elections last September, mainly on the back of a promise to end immigration. According to figures from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, more than 130,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of this year – almost twice as many as in all of 2022.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin pointed out that the federal government is currently implementing financial support decided by the Bundestag. This would support both civilian rescue operations at sea and land-based projects for those rescued from distress at sea. Organizations have been selected as worthy of funding and funding will now follow.

Berlin supports with hundreds of thousands of euros

In two cases, the funds, each amounting to between 400,000 and 800,000 euros, will be paid out “soon”, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson previously told the AFP news agency. This is a project to provide onshore care to those rescued from distress at sea in Italy, and a project of a non-governmental organization on rescue measures at sea.

Germany promotes human trafficking

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto (60) told the newspaper “La Stampa” on Sunday that the move would put Italy “in difficulties”. In a statement, he added: “If Germany cared about the plight of people in need and really wanted to help us save lives, it could support us in taking serious action against criminals involved in human trafficking. ”

The German federal government suspended the program for the voluntary admission of migrants from Italy in August – also in protest against the fact that Italy is currently blocking the return of asylum seekers under the so-called Dublin rules. An increase in arrivals on the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa had fueled European debate on how to deal with migration. (AFP)

Source: Blick