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.
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