Italy is right to criticize the funding granted by the German government to NGOs involved in rescue operations in the Mediterranean. This is the conviction of the vice-president of the CDU-CSU parliamentary group, Johann Wadephul. According to Wadephul, “in fact, even if involuntarily”, NGOs “make possible the inhumane business of human trafficking gangs”. For this reason, “German taxpayers’ money should not be used”, Wadephul further stated, adding that “the federal government should focus its political energy on reaching agreements with North African states” and so limit exits.
Wadephul’s position is not isolated within Germany’s main opposition party. Former Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble said he understands “Italians’ irritation at the fact that Germany is providing state support to maritime rescue NGOs in the Mediterranean, which not only save refugees, but also bring them to Europe”. “This is the commercial basis for criminals who traffic human beings”, Schäuble further emphasized. The statements by the former president of the Bundestag were contested by the Greens and the SPD (in government with the FDP), who recalled that the decision to finance NGOs was taken by Parliament, and not by the government. “In the Budget Committee the financing was approved with a Union vote, Schäuble should have known that,” said Green MP Julian Pahlke.
Criticism of Berlin’s funding of NGOs also came from the internal policy spokesman for the CDU-CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Alexander Throm, who said that “whoever rescues a shipwrecked person must take him to the next safe haven. necessarily Europe, but it could very well be North Africa. The rescue teams must maintain this, otherwise they will become an extension of the traffickers.” Carsten Linnemann, general secretary of the CDU, then asked for a signal from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who “should announce to the world that the rescue capabilities Germany’s reception is exhausted.” Berlin’s measures do not seem to convince anyone. And not just the center-right that rules in Italy.
Source: IL Tempo

Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.