Meloni after the migrant accident: “My conscience is clear”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has once again strongly denied responsibility for the migrant accident off the coast of Calabria that killed at least 88 people. “My conscience is absolutely clear!” said the right-wing politician on Tuesday during a heated question hour in the House of Representatives. “I hope that the consciences of those who use the deaths of these poor people for propaganda are also clear.” Meloni claimed the opposition accused the authorities of not doing everything they could to save the refugees.

She accused her political opponents of baseless accusations: “There is no evidence that the Italian government could have done more!” When a migrant boat with more than 170 people on board sank off the coast of the southern Italian town of Cutro at the end of February, the coastguard left late because no emergency had been reported to them, according to information from Rome. If this had happened, emergency services would have come to the people’s aid, Meloni said. «I am a mother, colleagues, I am a mother. So I ask you, let’s try to moderate the tone of the debate.”

Ahead of the EU summit this week, Meloni called for more flag states to deploy civilian rescue vessels at sea. According to Melonis, these volunteers – including some from Germany – are no longer allowed to contact only the country where they wanted to stop after an assignment. “The flag states that fund these NGOs must take their responsibility, as required by the law of the sea,” said the leader of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia. The federal government supports rescue workers at sea with two million euros per year.

Meloni said that thanks to her insistence, migration – along with the war in Ukraine – is one of the main issues at the Thursday-Friday summit in Brussels. (sda/dpa)