ITALY:THREE ITALIAN government ministers yesterday expressed concerns about the short-term handling of the coalition's military intervention in Libya and its likely long-term impact on Italy.
Speaking after an extraordinary cabinet meeting called yesterday morning to assess the Libyan crisis, interior minister Roberto Maroni argued that the influx of boat people from north Africa is likely to become an “emergency”.
Pointing out that almost 15,000 boat people have already landed in Sicily this year, Mr Maroni claimed that the first wave of Libyan boat people had arrived in Catania, Sicily, early yesterday morning.
Until now, the majority of this year’s clandestine migrants into Italy have left from Tunisia, with a majority of them being of Tunisian nationality.
Mr Maroni’s report that the 200 people picked up off Catania yesterday are indeed Libyans would seem to confirm speculation that Italy may shortly be overwhelmed by a new wave of Libyan boat people.
Mr Maroni argued that at meetings later this week with European Union partners, Italy will argue for a “naval block” on Libya which will not only stop goods and arms being delivered to the Gadafy regime but which would also block the departure of clandestine migrants.
Speaking in Brussels yesterday, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini called on the international community to share with Italy the burden of north African boat people.
More controversially, Mr Frattini and Italian defence minister Ignazio La Russa yesterday called for the coalition’s military intervention to be placed under “the umbrella of Nato”, rather than appearing to be led by France and Britain. If this does not happen, suggested Mr Frattini, then Italy will “assume control of its own bases”.
Italy’s concerns are linked not only to the proximity of former colony Libya, but also to the fact that Libya supplies 25 per cent of its oil and 14 per cent of its gas.