The German government intends to stop funding charities that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean after coming under fire from Italy, the Bild newspaper reported on Friday, as quoted by AFP.

Germany’s 2023 budget earmarked two million euros ($2.1 million) for maritime rescue charities, but next year’s draft budget does not mention it, the newspaper said.

This is not “negligence”, he added, citing sources in the budget committee of the German parliament, adding that both the chancellorship and the foreign ministry are in favor of canceling this funding.

Neither agency was available for comment on this information.

Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney recently wrote a letter to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to express her “surprise” at Germany’s funding of charities that help illegal migrants in her country.

When asked about the letter, Berlin confirmed that it is allocating between €400,000 and €800,000 to each of the two migrant-related projects.

During a press conference last week after talks with her Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock defended her country’s support for the rescue missions.

“Volunteer lifeguards are on a mission to save lives in the Mediterranean,” she said.

However, Olaf Scholz struck a different tone at Friday’s EU summit in Granada, southern Spain.

Answering the question about this funding at the press conference, he emphasized that it was approved by the parliament, not the government.

“I did not make such an offer,” he said.

The issue of migration, one of the most painful among the 27, was put on the agenda of this summit at the request of Georgia Maloney, after the recent influx of migrants on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, which reminded of the urgency of the European response. (Agerpress)