Germany fuels the invasion: It rains money on the Sea Watch

The image of Germany supporting Italy in its tug of war with Paris was rejected within 48 hours. On the other hand, if Berlin responds to France’s call to boycott the agreements reached in the European Union last June and does not take responsibility for the 3,500 migrants to redistribute them, on the other hand, the German parliament is ready to vote in favor of spending two million euros annually for the German NGO United4rescue.

To be clear, itOng Which will bring soon sea ​​view 5One of the largest migrant rescue ships. This will now be able to benefit from German public contributions.

Funds for NGOs

Even in Berlin it’s financial time. This is the first for Traffic Lights Alliancewho sees the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals as allies supporting the chancellor Olaf Schulz. as pointed out Republicin the Budget Committee in BundestagThe majority, in the lower house of the German parliament, decided to include a loan of two million euros for the next three years to United4rescue within the expenditures.

From 2023 to 2026, the alliance was established in 2019 which sees that Evangelical Church Germany as a leader, and therefore will be able to benefit from the funds provided by the new financing company. Indeed, approval of the amendment at the next plenary session of the Bundestag seems clear.

It is clear that NGOs have already started to encourage. Like the main sponsors. “It’s a strong political signal – United4rescue leaders said in a statement – and an important boost in difficult times.“.

After all, maintaining the Sea Watch 5 at sea will not be very simple. The ship costs a lot and will also cost a lot of regular maintenance. Perhaps a public contribution is what the German NGO world has long hoped for.

political question

The €2 million that the Berlin Parliament is preparing to approve, in hindsight, will not be decisive for the activities of Sea Watch 5. Between private donations and allocations from other associations, the budgets of NGOs exceed more than two million dollars. promised by the Bundestag.

The real truth of the affirmation is that Politician. Allocating funds to ships operating in the central Mediterranean means supporting NGOs politically, even more so than economically. An image that contrasts sharply with that of Germany committed to solidarity with Italy and ready to contribute by welcoming redistributed immigrants.

Of course, the parties of the majority of traffic lights have made it clear that the timing of the funding is not tied to the current tug of war between Rome and NGOs. to explain it Republic he is Lars Castellucci, responsible for the immigration policies of Spd. “He said the timing had absolutely nothing to do with the current situation in ItalyAnd this is actually true: as mentioned, in Germany as in Bill Paese, it is the time for money and this is the time to decide how to spend money.

However, there is a paragraph in the statements by Lars Castellucci that could very well describe the current Berlin government’s political idea on immigration. “Special assignments – he reads the interview – should become redundantIn other words, the Bundestag recognizes an important value for the operations of NGOs, which is to temporarily replace the states and Europe. The meaning is clear: now to finance NGOs waiting to return military ships to sea again.

But in what way? “Through a mission supported and funded by the European Union, which at the same time fights human traffickers, just as in the days of Marie NostrumLars Castellucci added.

This is the same mission in which the ships sailed to Italy once the migrants were rescued. Whatever you want to see, it is clear that Germany does not seem ready to deviate from the status quo: whether with private ships or with government missions, according to Berlin, migrants must disembark at Italian ports.

Perhaps the only point of convergence between the current German government and the current Italian executive was given by Castellucci’s own reference to “fighting human traffickers”. The same principle that he proclaimed Georgia Meloni In Parliament in recent days.