Italy is not changing its stance on immigration. Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s statement at the end of the MED9 session was more than indicative: “I think you shouldn’t show solidarity with other people’s borders,” she pointed out.

Italy mainly emphasizes the protection of the external borders and insists that the support of NGOs is a pull factor for the migration and refugee flows. And this, even if the official figures show that the ships of the various NGOs transport to the country only 5% of the “desperate people of the sea” who arrive in Lampedusa, Sicily and Calabria.

“Almost all NGO ships with German flag”

Apart from Meloni, however, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and head of the Forza Italia party, Antonio Tajani, did not want to tone down either. “In the last few days, seven NGO ships arrived in Lampedusa. Almost all with a German flag. They cannot believe that they will bring immigrants into our country. Let’s take them to Germany,” he said on Rai television.

This is exactly what Meloni insists on and would like to see it officially decided at European level in the context of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum.

After his meeting with German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock, Tajani stated that “German NGOs are very close to the Green party in Germany, they help it in every way and therefore there is an electoral interest for this party that participates in the government” . Differences remain and are not so easy to bridge.

In the meantime, Meloni is attempting a rapprochement with France, especially regarding cooperation with African countries and the fight against traffickers’ networks in sub-Saharan and northern Africa.

“Everyone must take their responsibilities,” emphasizes the Italian Prime Minister. The French president replies that “the management of migration belongs to everyone” and “Italy must be supported with clear solidarity”. In Rome, however, most analysts insist that the tone with Berlin must drop immediately, because this tension benefits absolutely no one.