“Putin’s chef” Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to the head of the Italian Ministry of Defense Guido Crosetto, is involved in a large-scale increase in the migration phenomenon.
On Monday, March 13, the Italian government announced the involvement of mercenaries of the Russian PMC “Wagner” in the tragedy near Italy. It was about revenge on the country for supporting Ukraine. Officials suspect people’s attempts to cross the Mediterranean illegally are part of the Kremlin’s strategy. It is reported by Reuters.
“I think it’s now safe to say that the exponential growth of the migration phenomenon off African shores is also, to a small extent, part of a clear hybrid warfare strategy that the Wagner unit is implementing, using its weight in some African countries,” he said. Guido Crosetto, Minister of Defense of Italy.
The head of the Italian Ministry of Defense called on allies with NATO to help the state in countering the influx of migrants.
“The Atlantic alliance becomes stronger if the issues arising from collective choice are also shared, but it risks falling apart if the countries most susceptible to various types of retribution are left alone,” Crosetto said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also commented on the migration problem. He reported concern due to the fact that migrants arrive from areas controlled by PMCs.
About 20,000 migrants arrived in Italy this year, according to the Italian Interior Ministry. At the same time, during the same period in 2022, significantly fewer people arrived in the country – about 6,000. The issue of migration is reported to add to the pressure on the right-wing government.
Russia’s response
RosSMI write that the founder of PMC “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to the accusations. The Russian turned to the Italian official and advised him to concentrate on his own problems.
“We don’t know at all what is happening with the migration crisis, and we don’t deal with it. We have a lot of our own things to do. And Guido Crossetto… we need to look around less and deal with our own problems, which, it seems, he blew,” said Prigozhin .
Recall, on Sunday, February 26, near the Italian port city of Crotone, a ship sank, on board of which there were about 200 people. They were migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Then Italian Prime Minister Georgia Maloney called the Mediterranean a “mass grave”.
Earlier, on February 21, Georgia Maloney announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine. Italy announced the provision of air defense systems to Ukrainian defenders – SAMP-T and Skyguard Аspide. The official refused to supply fighter jets because they are not “defensive weapons”.
