“If someone in Berlin or Brussels thinks of dropping dozens of migrants via non-authorized charter flights in Italy, they should know that there is not and there will be no airport available,” Salvini added.
The two countries are working on a deal which would allow Germany to send migrants back to Italy if they have already applied for asylum there. But the agreement has yet to be signed. Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that Germany’s refugee agency was sending letters to asylum-seekers, advising them of their return to Italy.
Representatives of the German Interior Ministry and the Refugee Office have not yet spoken to the Italian newspaper. Horst Seehofer, the head of the German interior ministry, said last month that he had managed to conclude an agreement with Italy and expects it to be signed soon.
Salvini denied it a day later, demanding more benefits from Germany. The Italian government wants to introduce the deployment of asylum seekers across the EU and to change the EU’s Sophia naval mission. At present it says that all migrants picked up in the Mediterranean must be taken to Italy.
