Eni chief executive officer and general manager Claudio Descalzi this week dismissed recurring accusations that Malta and Italy had stuck a clandestine deal in which Malta swapped certain oil exploration rights with Italy in exchange for Italy taking in Malta's share of the irregular migrant search and rescue bargain as 'crazy crap'.

Descalzi actually did not say the actual words in an interview with leading Italian newspaper La Stampa this week, but when questioned about "rumours in European corridors" about the deal and that it had benefitted Eni in particular, he said: "The only way to respond to that would be by citing Fantozzi e la Corazzata Potëmkin, which I will do."

He was referring to recently departed Paolo Villaggio's line in Il secondo tragic Fantozzi "Per me...è una cagata pazzesca" (For me it's crazy crap).

Eni is the Italian multinational oil company, which is majority state-owned and controlled.

As several thousands of irregular migrants are being brought to Italian shores this summer, accusations of the secret Malta-Italy deal have been regurgitated in the Italian press, and among Italian politicians, who have questioned why Malta has not seen a single migrant being brought to Malta.

The situation is indeed curious.

Last week, the government had insisted with The Malta Independent on Sunday that Malta has never failed to assume any of its international responsibilities in the Mediterranean as far as migration is concerned, and said that the Armed Forces of Malta are "fully participating" and "adhering to operational procedures established by EU member states".

The government also justified the fact that no irregular migrants rescued at sea have been brought to Malta since 2016 by saying that most migration operations are taking place close to Libya, not in Maltese territorial waters.

The most recent politician to blast Malta was Forza Italia's Laura Ravetto, who said that despite having a search and rescue area of 250 square kilometres, Malta had not taken in a single boat migrant in 2016. "Despite being an EU member state, Malta refuses to offer help and to allow migrant boats into its harbours. Why is Brussels closing an eye to this blatant abuse of international pacts," she asked.

Then, in an article published in Libero Quotidiano, a senior Italian Coast Guard officer said Malta was refusing to help. "They limit themselves to monitoring the migrant boats until they have left Maltese waters. There is no other explanation. They do not want the migrants so they do not take them," the officer alleged.

Recent questions about the alleged deal have also been tabled recently in the European Parliament.