Meloni complains about German funding of an NGO helping immigrants in Italy | Drama in the Mediterranean

Italy’s head of government, Giorgia Meloni, wrote to her colleague Olaf Scholes to complain about Germany’s funding of charities helping illegal immigrants in her country, and the German government responded that it “surprised no one”.

“I was surprised to learn that your government, without coordinating with the Italian government, has decided to provide important funds to non-governmental organizations that welcome irregular migrants on Italian territory and carry out rescue operations in the Mediterranean,” Meloni said.

In a letter dated Saturday, Meloni suggested that the aid would be better used in Germany than in Italy. And he reiterated his allegation, strongly denied by non-governmental organizations, that rescue ships plying the Mediterranean serve as an invitation for migrants to cross the sea from North Africa.

A spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry declared that the support for non-governmental organizations “came as a surprise to no one”, which had previously been approved by parliament. The ministry confirmed that it provided between 400,000 and 800,000 euros for each project related to migrants.

133,000 people came this year.