Premier Giorgia Meloni wrote to
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Monday saying that she was
"amazed" that Berlin had decided to fund NGOs working to rescue
migrants at sea and helping them in Italy too, without liaising
with the Italian government.
"I have learned with amazement that your government - in an
uncoordinated manner with the Italian government - has allegedly
decided to support with substantial funds non-governmental
organisations engaged in the reception of irregular migrants on
Italian territory and in rescues in the Mediterranean Sea," she
reportedly wrote.
"Both possibilities raise questions", she said.
Meloni stressed in her letter that EU nations should instead
focus on structural solutions to the migrant issue.
"I believe that the efforts, including financial, of the EU
nations interested in providing concrete support to Italy should
rather concentrate on building structural solutions to the
migratory phenomenon, for example by working on an EU initiative
with the transit countries on the southern shore of the
Mediterranean, which would, moreover, require fewer resources
than the one that has been in place for some time with Turkey".
Earlier, Defence Minister Guido Crosseto said Italy would have
expected assistance and solidarity in a moment of difficulty
related to the uptick in migrant arrivals by sea, in his reply
to further statements by a German foreign ministry spokesperson
on Berlin's decision to fund NGOs working for migrants and
refugees at sea and on land in Italy.
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