Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a letter alleging that Germany has, “without coordinating with the Italian government, … decided to support with substantial funds non-governmental organizations engaged in the reception of irregular migrants on Italian territory and in rescues in the Mediterranean Sea.” As Italy has been faced with a doubling of immigrants from Africa in the last year, Meloni has pushed for other European countries to institute a naval blockade of North Africa to stem the tide of what E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the “brutal” migrant smuggling business. While Germany’s foreign ministry said that assisting immigrants at sea is a “legal, humanitarian and moral duty,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced that German police will increase patrols along its border with Poland and the Czech Republic to combat migrants entering the country seeking asylum.
