On Tuesday League’s deputy secretary Crippa said that Germany had gone from using its army to attack other countries in World War II to using migrants today.
The comments were made amid a spat over Berlin’s decision to fund a German NGO working to rescue migrants at sea and an Italian one helping them in Italy.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Monday saying that she was “amazed” that Berlin had made the decision without liaising with the Italian government.
“They are trying to destabilise the government by funding NGOs to fill us with illegal immigrants and bring down support for the centre right (coalition of government) in Italy,” Crippa told Affaritaliani.it.
“Eighty years ago, the German government decided to invade other States with the army, but that went badly.
“Now they are funding an invasion of illegal immigrants to destabilise governments that the Social Democrats don’t like.
“It is clear that the German government doesn’t want the centre right to govern Italy.
“They do everything to put the Italian government in difficulty in the hope of bringing it down.”
Tajani, who is also Deputy PM and leader of late three-time ex-prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, stressed Wednesday that this was not the position of Meloni’s government.
He said Crippa “is not a member of the government, therefore that is not the government’s position”.
The right wing anti-migrant League party is led by the other Deputy PM and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, who has been put on trial in Italy over his policy as former interior minister of closing Italian ports to foreign migrant rescue NGOs, leading to charges of abducting people at sea.
Crippa’s statement on the alleged resemblance between funding migrant NGOs and past invading armies had spurred criticism from the Italian centre left, which said Crippa should remember that Italy was Germany’s WWII ally and claimed that the majority was again “inventing” enemies.
His words were variously described as “crazy”, “dismaying” and “beyond the limits of delirium”.
ANSA
