BRUSSELS β Tempers flared in the European Parliament on Tuesday as a conservative lawmaker accused a socialist of giving the middle finger during a session about a migrant shipwreck off the Italian coast.
In a hearing with the Parliamentβs home affairs committee, the EUβs border defense agency Frontex and Italyβs coast guard rejected accusations that they did not do enough to avert 94 migrant drownings a few hundred meters off the coast of Calabria, Italy in February.
Frontex chief Hans Leijtens said that he immediately informed the Italian authorities about the migrant boat and forwarded them details on its speed, location and infrared images as per standard practice. Β
βOur plane continued the surveillance until it had to return to base due to fuel shortage,β Leijtens told EU lawmakers. The Frontex boss stressed that they could not issue an emergency alert because the migrant boat was not in danger at the time.
βIf we know today what we knew then I think we will not do different,β said Leijtens.
The commander from Italyβs coast guard, Gianluca DβAgostino, confirmed that the satellite images at their disposal did not justify a rescue mission. Β
βThe vessel was sailing in an appropriate manner. And the sea was reasonable. It had a constant route, and the wind was behind it,β he told the Parliament committee.
Then things really got heated.
Tensions in the room escalated as Italian conservative MEPs defended the migration record of Romeβs right-wing government against accusations from Juan Matias Gil, an official from the NGO MΓ©decins Sans FrontiΓ¨res, who was also on the panel.
βHe has come here to get involved in politics and make accusations. Itβs ridiculous for him to make these statements,β said Susanna Ceccardi, an Italian MEP from the right-wing League, referring to Gil. Β
The session then descended into chaos as Italian center-right MEP Alessandra Mussolini accused left-wing lawmakers of laughing at the victims of the shipwreck, and German socialist Birgit Sippel urged colleagues to stop asking questions to allow more time for answers.
βThis is the social democrats,β exclaimed one unidentified MEP in response while the Czech lawmaker TomΓ‘Ε‘ Zdechovsky accused Sippel of giving the middle finger to colleagues.
βYou think you can get away with this? You should be before the ethics committee here. Calm the hell down, colleague,β Zdechovsky snapped.