The Maltese and Italian foreign affairs ministers will today hold talks on the recent development of a diplomatic row between the two countries that degenerated when two Italian politicians made threatening remarks against Malta.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi lambasted Italy two days ago, after the Italian authorities failed to allow a Maltese patrol boat to disembark 171 immigrants in Lampedusa. The Italians had also refused to help the migrants, whose location when they were rescued was recorded at 32 nautical miles off Lampedusa.
But the Italians went further than simply hitting back at Malta. Criticising the EU for failing to show a sense of concrete action with respect to the handling of migrants, two Italian politicians made threatening remarks against Malta over an unrelated matter.
Various media quoted Italian undersecretary Stefano Saglia as saying that Malta had to play its part, “… otherwise we would have to rethink strategic industrial and energy projects, starting from the submarine cable connecting Ragusa with Malta. It is the only way Malta can export and import energy, but for us it is irrelevant.”
The Italian undersecretary made similar comments with respect to business ties with France and Germany.
Lega Nord MEP Mario Borghezio repeated the threatening remarks on Rai Tre, saying that there were various ways in which Italy could respond if the EU fails to offer assistance with respect to the handling of irregular migrants, and Malta’s interconnector project is one such example.
The Maltese government has yet to react officially to the threats made by the Italian politicians, and the Italian embassy failed to respond to this newspaper’s calls and emails on the matter.
However government sources said that the remarks by the Italian politicians do not hold much ground and said that the interconnector project is going ahead as planned.
The matter will be brought up during a meeting between foreign affairs minister Tonio Borg and his Italian counterpart following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg today.
Italy, and to a lesser extent Malta, has taken in thousands of migrants from Tunisia but now wants the EU to help share the burden.
“Thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands” of migrants could come from Tunisia, said Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini, adding that this is a purely European affair.
Not so, Germany insisted, showing a widening rift in the EU over the sensitive issue of migrants.
Meanwhile, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said there was little point in seeking EU cooperation after yesterday’s meeting of EU interior ministers.
“If this is the answer, it is better to be alone than in bad company,” he said. “I wonder if it makes sense to stay in the European Union,” said Maroni.
Germany and France offered little help when Italy asked for assistance in handling what it called a “human tsunami” of thousands of Tunisians fleeing their country for Europe via Italy.
Instead, France announced that it would reinforce controls close to the Italian border with extra riot police to send back all Tunisian migrants who do not have the proper papers and enough cash on them.
Additional reporting by AP