Meloni denies government responsibility for deadly boat accident

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has denied that her government was responsible for the devastating boat accident that killed at least 69 people off the coast of Calabria. "The situation is as simple as it is tragic: we have not received any emergency signals from the European border and coast guard Frontex," Meloni said on Saturday during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

She denied allegations that the authorities had reacted too slowly: "We did everything possible to save lives after we were made aware of the problem," said Meloni.

The Italian judiciary is currently investigating why it took the rescue services so long to reach the refugee boat coming from Turkey with around 200 migrants on board. The boat was sighted by employees of the European border protection agency Frontex on Saturday evening a week ago. Two patrol boats sent by Italian authorities had to turn back because of the bad weather.

The overloaded boat crashed into a rock early Sunday morning not far from Crotone in the southern Italian region of Calabria in heavy seas. The death toll rose to 69 after authorities found the body of a three-year-old child. The public prosecutor's office in Crotone initiated investigations into the rescue operation on Thursday.

The mayor of Crotone, Vincenzo Voce, sharply criticized Meloni in an open letter. “The community of Crotone, stricken with great pain, expected from you a message, an appeal, a sign – which did not happen,” wrote Voce. The Prime Minister replied: "I am looking for solutions. Italy cannot solve the problem alone - but to prevent more people from dying, we must stop illegal exits".

Meloni took over the official business in Rome in October. Her far-right government announced during the election campaign that it would stop the arrival of refugees in Italy.

Italy accuses other EU countries of a lack of solidarity in refugee policy and calls for more support. According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, more than 14,000 migrants, including 1,700 minors, have already reached the Italian coast this year - more than twice as many as in the same period last year.