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Elon Musk is embroiled in an unprecedented public spat with Germany’s foreign ministry over the country’s policy of helping organize the rescue of Mediterranean migrants and bringing them to Italian shores.
The row began on Friday, when a far-right social media account called RadioGenoa wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter and owned by Musk, that German NGO ships were “collecting illegal immigrants” in the Mediterranean. , preparing to unload in Italy”. It said NGOs “receive subsidies from the German government”.
Musk retweeted the message, adding: “Does the German public know this?” The Foreign Ministry responded: “Yes. This is called saving lives.”
The billionaire replied: “So you’re actually proud of it. Interesting. Frankly, I doubt that the majority of the German public supports this. Have you conducted a poll?”
“Germany transports a large number of illegal immigrants to Italian territory. Does this definitely violate Italy’s sovereignty?” he continued. “It smells like an invasion…”
Musk’s tweets come as Italy’s right-wing coalition government becomes increasingly angry over Berlin’s funding of humanitarian groups carrying out search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean, while Rome grapples with large numbers of migrants arriving from North Africa.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni believes such charities encourage more migrants to make the dangerous crossing, and her government has tried to limit their activities since coming to power.
In a letter to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week, Meloni expressed shock and dismay that Berlin had extended funding to the organizations at a time when Rome was already facing “extraordinary migrant pressure”.
More than 133,000 migrants have arrived in Italy across the Mediterranean so far this year, up from 71,000 at the same time last year.
In her letter to Scholz, Meloni argued that migrants rescued by German-funded charities should be taken to Germany rather than Italy, saying Berlin’s policy “has a direct effect of increasing the number of dangerous boat departures, which not only increases “It reduces the burden on Italy but increases the risk of new maritime tragedies.”
Berlin is also in conflict with Rome, which it accuses of failing to properly register the many migrants who continue on to and eventually arrive in Germany. The German government briefly suspended and then resumed an interim deal last month to ease Italy’s burden by taking in some people rescued in the Mediterranean.
German politicians were furious at Musk’s intervention. Erik Marquardt, a Green member of the European Parliament, asked him on X: “Why are you spreading lies? Only 8% of migrants receive aid from NGOs. This is a far-right conspiracy theory.”
There were also concerns that the Genoa radio post, which Musk supported, supported the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. “Let us hope that the Alternative for Germany wins the election to stop Europe’s suicide,” it said, an apparent reference to key regional elections in Bavaria and Hesse next Sunday.
Jan Philip Albrecht, co-chairman of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which has close ties to the Greens, accused Musk of launching a “pro-AfD campaign”. Writing on X, he called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to “stop electoral propaganda” on the platform, otherwise “we could dismantle the EU’s resilient and democratic public space”.
Musk later posted that he did not “support” any political party and “knows nothing about the Alternative for Germany.”
Musk has increasingly waded into the immigration debate. Last week, he visited the U.S.-Mexico border, meeting with representatives of local politicians and law enforcement officials to, in his words, develop an “unfiltered” view of the situation. He called for expanding legal immigration and limiting irregular border crossings.
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