Italy expected help, not NGO funding Crosetto tells Berlin

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 25 - Italy would have expected assistance and solidarity in a moment of difficulty related to the uptick in migrant arrivals by sea, said Defence Minister Guido Crosetto on Sunday in his reply to further statements by a German foreign ministry on Berlin's decision to fund NGOs working for migrants and refugees at sea and on land in Italy.
    "With regard to the recent and renewed statements on the work of the Italian government and, in particular, on the issue of the rescue of migrants and the funding of NGOs, I would like to respectfully remind the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, who I answer personally because I do not have a 'spokesman' myself, that I would have expected help and solidarity in a moment of difficulty, as we Italians are in the habit of doing with all countries when they are in difficulty," said Crosetto. "It comes naturally to us Italians. As for the issue in question, I merely pointed out in an interview that their response was instead almost exclusively to assist and fund German and other NGOs," he continued.
    His comments came after the German foreign ministry on Sunday reiterated through a spokesperson that it is "currently implementing a financial support programme set up by the German Bundestag to support both civil rescue at sea and projects on land for people rescued at sea" involving 790,000 euros worth of funding to the German NGO SOS Humanity to perform search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean.
    Separately, the lay Catholic Sant'Egidio Community charity said on Friday it had signed a fresh deal with Berlin to fund migrant activities in Italy, as part of a years-long relationship.
    The German foreign ministry spokesperson also responded to claims by Crosetto in an interview to la Stampa that the decision to fund the NGO was "very serious", saying that "saving people who drown and find themselves in distress at sea is a legal, humanitarian and moral duty".
    "As far as sea rescues are concerned, I would like to remind our German friends that those carried out by NGOs account for just 5%, while the Italian institutions, particularly the coast guard, finance police and navy, whose institutional duties include rescuing people in distress at sea, account for most of the rescues," replied Crosetto.
    "If Germany had the fate of people in distress at heart and really wanted to help us save lives, it could help build what we call the 'Mattei plan' for Africa, seriously combat the criminals who traffic in human beings, and lend a hand to the military and civil institutions of the Italian Republic," he added.
    The Mattei plan is a project announced by Premier Giorgia Meloni earlier this year and named after Enrico Mattei, the founder of oil company Eni, focusing on cooperation on energy with African countries and on curbing irregular migration. (ANSA).