(ANSA) - Rome, July 8 - Defence Minister Elisabetta Trenta
and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Monday clashed over past
migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
"I warned Salvini," the defence minister told the press,
"that the NGOs would return if Operation Sophia was ended".
Salvini retorted: "the numbers speak for themselves,"
referring to a sharp drop in migrant departures and arrivals.
"I don't want to have a row, some people are felling a bit
antsy," Salvini added.
"The Sophia mission, with all due respect, rescued tens of
thousands of immigrants and brought them all to Italy, because
those were the rules of the mission.
"You tell me if fighting clandestine immigration means
rescuing tens of thousands of immigrants wandering around the
Mediterranean and bringing them all to Italy.
"Already by the end of this week we'll have a law and order
meeting at the interior ministry on this and other issues".
Trenta-Salvini clash on migrant rescue ops
'I told him NGOs wd return', 'numbers speak for themselves'