The leader of Italy's far-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, Giorgia Meloni, has proposed once again a "naval blockade" to stop the departure of migrants towards Italy. Further sparking condemnation by political rivals and activists, Meloni posted a video on her Twitter account showing the rape of a Ukrainian woman by a migrant in an Italian city.
Giorgia Meloni, leader of Italy's far-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, has reiterated on a Facebook post her proposal for a "naval blockade" in the Mediterranean to stop the departure of migrants towards her country.
"We want to reiterate a simple principle: Italy is entered only through legal means, because we will not have migration flows to our nation managed by criminals, smugglers, or -- worse -- those who want to destabilize our nation and Europe," the far-right leader wrote on social media on Friday (August 19).
The Brothers of Italy party is currently the top-ranked party in the latest polls ahead of a September 25 national election and is widely expected to win power. This puts Meloni in pole position to become Italy's first female prime minister.
'Unsustainable situation'
In her Facebook post Meloni wrote that "(S)ince 2011, since the left has been in the government, over 800,000 migrants have disembarked on Italian coasts. ... (o)nly 8% of those landing illegally have been granted the right to asylum or protection. The others -- almost all of whom adult males of working age, travelling alone -- are simply illegal immigrants. This is an unsustainable situation, including in terms of security, for Italy and all Europe."
She called for an actual naval blockade, which she said was already hypothesized by the European Commission back in 2017. "Brothers of Italy are proposing a naval blockade because, as we have explained a thousand times, it is a matter of a European mission in agreement with North African states to stop -- alongside them -- human trafficking and to set up in African territory hotspots managed alongside the European Union to assess asylum requests and distinguish between those who have a right to asylum and international protection from those who do not."
Rape video removed from Meloni's Twitter account
In other developments, Twitter on Tuesday (August 23) removed a video posted by Meloni of a Ukrainian woman being raped by a migrant in the Italian city of Piacenza, saying it violated Twitter rules.
Meloni had tweeted the blurred video, which was originally published on a newspaper website, late on Sunday, saying she could not remain silent in the face of "this atrocious episode of sexual violence," news agency Reuters reports.
The post was widely condemned by Meloni's political rivals and human rights activists, who accused her of adding to the victim's misery by putting out the video without her consent.
Local authorities in Piacenza say the 55-year-old Ukrainian woman in the video was assaulted on a pavement early on Sunday by an asylum seeker from Guinea. The man was arrested and is being detained as the investigation continues, police said, according to Reuters.
Meloni said that she had published the video "to express solidarity with the victim, to condemn what happened and obviously to demand justice." Authorities said they were looking into how the video was released in the first place, and for possible responsibilities on the part of the persons who have posted it.