Moviment Patrijotti Maltin has said that it is ready to ‘retaliate with war,’ in response to a statement made by an NGO ship captain.
Malta and Italy have both refused entry to a German humanitarian ship carrying migrants rescued off Libya from entering Maltese and Italian territorial waters. It has around 100 migrants on board.
The NGO ship Eleonore is being captained by Claus-Peter Reisch, who had been prosecuted in Malta last year. Last summer, captain Reisch was at the helm of the Lifeline, which had rescued 234 migrants at sea off Libya, and refused instructions to return the rescued migrants to Libya. When the ship was eventually allowed to dock in Malta, it was confiscated by the authorities and Reisch was eventually fined €10,000 for false registration of a rescue vessel.
INews reported that the captain of the vessel as saying that while he does not want to reach that stage he knows that that he would need to take refuge in Malta even without permission.
Moviment Patrijotti Maltin told the captain though its statement that there is a difference between a “spineless government that gives in, giving you permission to enter our country, or challenge the sovereignty of the Maltese population,” adding that this would be clear as an act of war against Malta.
“Don’t put our backs against the wall, for an act of war against Malta, the Moviment Patrijoti Maltin are ready to respond with a retaliation of war.”
The statement was signed by Simon Borg as leader of the Moviment Patrijotti Maltin
