“It makes you think of an invasion…” Elon Musk on Saturday criticized Berlin’s support for NGOs rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean. “Is the German public aware of this? “, wrote the American billionaire on Friday on his social network (ex-Twitter) by sharing a post from an account called “RadioGenoa” denouncing rescues of migrants in the Mediterranean by NGOs supported by Berlin and concluding “let’s hope that the AfD (German far-right party) wins the elections” .
“Yes, that’s what we call saving lives,” the German Foreign Ministry responded to the businessman on X. “So you’re proud of it actually. Interesting. Frankly, I doubt that a majority of the German public supports this. Did you do a survey? Surely it is a violation of Italian sovereignty for Germany to transport large numbers of illegal immigrants onto Italian soil? This makes you think of an invasion…” added the boss of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and SpaceX on the night of Friday to Saturday.
“Legal and European obligation”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock defended on Thursday the role of NGOs which come to the aid of migrants trying to enter Europe via Italy. “Saving people from drowning at sea is a legal and European obligation,” she stressed. “Illegal immigration must stop, but I am completely in favor of a significant expansion and simplification of legal immigration,” Elon Musk also wrote in the meantime on X.
Regional elections are due to take place on October 8 in Germany, Bavaria (south) and Hesse (center). On Friday, the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni warned that her country no longer wanted to welcome migrants saved by foreign NGOs. Rome accuses Berlin of financing several relief NGOs in the Mediterranean, some of which operate under the German flag. Giorgia Meloni wrote to Chancellor Olaf Scholz this week to express her “amazement” at these subsidies.
Welcoming refugees has returned to the center of debate in Germany with the strong surge of the AfD, whose voting intentions are reaching records. At the beginning of September Elon Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL, which fights anti-Semitism and racism), which he accuses of defamation against his social network.