(Berlin) Elon Musk sharply criticized Berlin’s support for NGOs rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean on Saturday, after sharing a post on Friday advocating an electoral victory for the far-right German party AfD.
“Is the German public aware of this? “, the billionaire wrote on Friday on his social network wins the elections.
Regional elections are due to take place on October 8 in Germany, Bavaria (south) and Hesse (center).
“Yes, that’s what we call saving lives,” the German Foreign Ministry responded on X to this American and Canadian citizen born in South Africa who lives in the United States.
“So you’re proud of it actually. Interesting. Frankly, I doubt that a majority of the German public supports this. Did you do a survey? Surely it is a violation of Italian sovereignty for Germany to transport large numbers of illegal immigrants onto Italian soil? This makes you think of an invasion…” added the boss of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and SpaceX on the night of Friday to Saturday.
“If a government in a democracy goes against the will of the people, we must vote against” this government, he added later on Saturday in a public publication he addressed to the German ministry.
In the meantime, Elon Musk has clarified that he is “completely in favor of a significant extension and simplification of legal immigration”.
Friday the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni, whose post-fascist Brothers of Italy party of Mme Meloni was elected largely on a promise to reduce mass immigration to Italy, warning that his country no longer wanted to take in migrants rescued by foreign NGOs.
PHOTO RENE ROSSIGNAUD, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
Rome accuses Berlin of financing several relief NGOs in the Mediterranean, some of which operate under the German flag. Giorgia Meloni wrote to Chancellor Olaf Scholz this week to express her “amazement” at these subsidies.
“Save from drowning”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock defended on Thursday the role of NGOs which come to the aid of migrants trying to enter Europe via Italy.
“Saving people from drowning at sea is a legal and European obligation,” she stressed.
Berlin had confirmed to AFP that it would allocate between 400,000 and 800,000 euros each to two projects linked to migrants, with the approval of the German Parliament.
The number of arrivals in Italy on boats from North Africa has increased, with more than 130,000 migrants registered so far this year, compared to 70,000 for the same period in 2022, according to Rome.
PHOTO LIESA JOHANNSSEN, REUTERS ARCHIVES
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Olaf Scholz, for his part, estimated in an interview with the media group Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland published on Thursday that the number of asylum seekers was “currently too high”.
His government “completely agrees” with the idea that “irregular immigration should be put an end to in the European Union” (EU).
“This can only be done together and with solidarity,” added the Chancellor, stressing that he supports measures to protect the EU’s borders.
On Wednesday, Germany announced the strengthening of its border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic where migrant flows are increasing sharply.
Welcoming refugees has returned to the center of debate in Germany with the strong surge of the AfD, whose voting intentions are reaching records.
At the beginning of September Elon Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL, which fights anti-Semitism and racism), which he accuses of defamation against his social network.
The EU has been divided over how to handle the problem since the migrant crisis began in 2015, when more than a million arrived on European shores.