MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Rome should reconsider how much funding it gives to the United Nations due to the organization’s inefficiency and double standards that were exposed in its latest dispute on migration with Rome, Italian Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Guglielmo Picchi told Sputnik on Wednesday.
“On funds, well… It should go on, an overall UN funding restructuring. Scales of contribution should be revised. The UN is costly, inefficient and often uses double standards as we see,” Picchi said.
Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said on Tuesday that he was upset by the “inappropriate” statement made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who criticized the Italian authorities for their tough stance on migration, particularly their refusal to accept rescue vessels with migrants on board in the country’s ports.
Earlier on Monday, Bachelet, a former Chilean president who only recently assumed the position of UN human rights chief, announced that her office would send investigators to Italy to verify information about the alarming rates of violence and racism against migrants, people of African descent and the Romany people in the European country.
Picchi called the UN initiative to send the investigators to Italy unpleasant, adding that all accusations voiced by the United Nations against Rome were “totally false, unacceptable and unfair.”
“The UN should look at countries where, for instance, there is no freedom of religion or gender equality, where even gender discrimination exists,” the official added.
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini have responded to Bachelet’s criticism by calling the United Nations a biased and ill-informed organization. Salvini stressed that Italy “is not going to take lessons from anyone, and even more so from the United Nations.” The interior minister also suggested that Italy could reduce its contributions to the UN budget.
Italy’s new government, which came to power as a result of the March election, has been seeking to close the Italian borders to irregular migrants.
In early August, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that in the course of just two months after his cabinet began working, the number of migrants disembarking in Italy had fallen by up to 85 percent.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
