The European Union warns Italy: “saving lives at sea is a moral and legal obligation“. The NGOs are on a war footing and are asking the Italian left not to vote on the bill. The same, in a letter sent to the Government and Parliament, highlight that the Piantedosi decree law hinders rescue at sea and that it will cause a greater number of deaths. Undersecretary of the Interior Nicholas Molteni points out, however, that the decree is "theexact application of international conventions”.
The Piantedosi decree and the Code of Conduct they are perfectly in compliance with international conventions and therefore, if anything, the NGOs will have to respect the rules, specifies the undersecretary. Moreover, the code is inspired by that of Minister Minniti of 2017, so I expect a broad consensus.
The point, says the undersecretary, is that the The Mediterranean cannot be the Far West and the decree on the one hand protects the safety of migrants on the other it clarifies the ambiguity between rescue at sea and commuting with transfers from one boat to another which is, as Frontex has just said, a "Pull factor”.
"Other than withdrawing the decree on NGOs. On the contrary, it must be strengthened because it is not just a matter of the 12 migrants who landed here, but of the magnet effect – the Undersecretary of the Interior declares to the newspaper, Nicholas Molteni - And if the EU does not carry out the Action plan, we will do it alone like Spain with Morocco”.
On February 9 and 10, the EU Council will address the issue, but just before Sweden takes over the presidency, its ambassador in Brussels Lars Danielsson he anticipated: "You will not see a migration pact completed during the Swedish presidency“. The Meloni government, on the other hand, aims atAction plan on the central Mediterranean by 20 points announced by the EU Commission last November, even if the Swedish presidency semester will not favor an easy debate.
The Northern League Molteni, in this regard, is lapidary: “if the EU does not do so, Italy will have to enter into agreements with Tunisia, Libya and Turkey to stop the increasing flows“. Among the hypotheses under consideration is that of involving UN agencies to create hotspots in countries such as Tunisia, from where 30 migrants left in 2022.
In the meantime it is hoped to implement the second pillar of theEuropean action plan: “the most coordinated approach to search and rescue at sea“. Rome aims to crystallize a European code of conduct for NGOs. On the website of the Italian government it is specified that Brussels should take the initiative within theInternational Maritime Organization to establish a serious discussion on the need for a specific framework and guidelines for ships concerning NGOs. Some countries, such as Germany and partly France, disregard the code of conduct for non-governmental organizations.
The third pillar, of the Action plan, aims to strengthen the implementation of the Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism and the Joint Roadmap.