BRUSSELS. On the issue of migrants, the European Commission confirms that it has had contacts with various Member States, but denies that any commitment has been made to relocate people who have also recently arrived in Italy. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the Community Executive, explaining that the contracts with the various countries that are part of the alliance continue.
“I can add – said the spokesman – that obviously the operational support to Italy continues, and currently in Italy there are about 190 Frontex employees from 26 Member States and also about 20 Europol personnel officers who support the Italian authorities and fingerprinting and other activities follow, as well as security checks.
“A new and clear increase in the number of migrants is emerging, in particular from the Balkan route”, the Interior Minister Horst Seehofer launches the examination to the Dpa. “I will discuss this with my parliamentary group. We must do something not to return to alarming levels ». If the number of entries were to exceed 200,000 then “social and political problems would arise,” says Seehofer. The issue of migration was exploited by the German far right “and the Afd made it its theme in 2015”, recalled the Minister of the Interior, in view of the upcoming federal elections in September. Finally, Seehofer announced some time ago his intention to withdraw from politics after the end of his mandate at the end of the legislature.
Meanwhile, on the Italian political front, the fact that no European state has yet made specific commitments on the relocation of migrants is for the group leader of Leu in Montecitorio, Federico Fornaro, “a serious thing that leaves our country alone in the management of migratory flows from Libya “. On migrants, he says, “the dream of a Europe of solidarity is shattered: it is absolutely necessary to obtain a redistribution of migrants on the basis of the criteria of proportionality and solidarity”.
For Forza Italia deputy, Sestino Giacomoni, member of the presidency coordination of the blue party, “as in any political action worthy of the name, we must distinguish between short, medium and long-term interventions. All inserted in a coherent framework, where the terms of the problem and the objectives to be achieved are clear ». The question to ask now, according to Giacomoni, is: «Are migrants who land on our shores definable as a problem to be solved? If so, is it just necessary to prevent them from reaching Italy or to welcome them by sharing this specific burden with the other EU countries? Crucial questions to which all political forces, above all those of the majority, are called upon to answer before starting to think about the three levels of intervention “.
The Forza Italia deputy asks the Prime Minister to convene a majority summit to seek a sharing of ideas on the guidelines of the reception policies of our country: “We must avoid that the migrant issue risks sinking the boat of the Unity Government national, in which everyone has the duty to row in the same direction for the resolution of the health and consequently economic crisis ”.
Senator Maurizio Gasparri, member of the Presidential Committee of Forza Italia, reiterates that “if anyone thinks of a new operation Our sea to get more illegal immigrants into Italy, he got the wrong address ». This, he says, “is not a government that can implement such an unfortunate policy, immigration must be stopped by intervening with determination on Tripoli, demanding a very different attitude from Europe from that of indifference practiced up to now. But transforming the Italian Navy into a mega NGO is a real madness that cannot be accepted by a government of which the center-right is a member ».
“Strong concern for the new wave of landings that has made the situation in Lampedusa unsustainable again, besieged by boats loaded with migrants departing from the Tunisian coast” was expressed by Eugenio Zoffili, deputy of the League and president of the Schengen Committee. “To these arrivals – he continues – are added those that have occurred in recent weeks in Puglia and Southern Sardinia, and as usual the increase in flows unfortunately corresponds to a proportional increase in tragedies: more departures, more deaths at sea”.
The official data of the Interior Ministry – cited by Zoffili – say that “in the period 1 January-10 May the migrants landed in Italy were 1,009 in 2019, 4,184 in 2020 and 12,894 in 2021”. It is necessary “to intervene as soon as possible, in ways that I hope will be illustrated by the Minister of the Interior, Luciana Lamorgese, during the next hearing at the Bicameral Schengen, Europol and Immigration convened on Wednesday 19 May. It will be the right occasion to discuss with you the most appropriate actions that the government will have to take to reverse this curve that continues to grow exponentially “, concludes the deputy of the League.