Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is under pressure because of the current high number of migrants, and now she is shooting against Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In a letter to him, the right-wing politician wrote that she was surprised to learn that the German government wants to financially support organizations that look after boat migrants in Italy, as Italian media reported. Both Meloni’s official residence and the federal government confirm the existence of the letter. “The letter will be answered,” says a federal government spokesman.
Rome views the federal government’s support of aid organizations as interference in domestic Italian affairs. The Foreign Office pointed out on Friday that this was implementing a decision by the Bundestag. The first money – between 400,000 and 800,000 euros each – should be paid out “shortly” to a project for supply on land and a project for rescue at sea. One of the organizations is SOS Humanity. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said on Monday: “It took some time until the various non-governmental organizations worthy of funding were selected. That has now happened, and the funding is now coming accordingly.” The funding was determined by the Bundestag.
German support with significant resources from such organizations operating on Italian territory raises questions, Meloni said in the letter. This was also not agreed with the Italian government. Instead, the EU states that are interested in concrete support for Italy should find more structural solutions, the head of government’s letter to Scholz continued. She mentioned, for example, the work on an EU initiative with the transit countries in North Africa.
The government in Rome had already taken an increasingly harsh tone against Berlin in the past few days. Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto spoke of “very serious” behavior. Like Meloni, Crosetto belongs to the ultra-right governing party Fratelli d’Italia.