Le Pen Visit To Lampedusa 'No Provocation' She Says

LE PEN VISIT TO LAMPEDUSA 'NO PROVOCATION' SHE SAYS

(ANSA) - Paris, March 9 - The leader of France's far-right National Front denied on Wednesday that her planned visit on Monday to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa was in any way a provocation.

"I'm going to Lampedusa in my role as the leader of a great political force in France and a member of the European parliament. I believe it is my duty to get an idea for myself of what is going on," Marine Le Pen told ANSA.

"There is no intention on my part to provoke, only to take a responsible view on this problem," she added.

The Italian island is one of the closest to North Africa and for years has been an arrival point for thousands of migrants and refugees seeking to enter Europe.

After an almost two-year lull, hundreds of boat people have recently been fleeing to Lampedusa in the wake of unrest in Egypt, Tunisia and, more recently, Libya.

Speaking on Italian TV on Tuesday, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni expressed his hope that Le Pen would "not cause damage" with her visit and not use "Italian territory for propaganda purposes".

Le Pen replied that "it appears to me that the Italian government's policy is that of allowing illegal migrants to reach France and Germany. But the government of Silvio Berlusconi is not totally to blame because the European Union has done nothing to help".

"Italy cannot deal with the world's misery by itself and it is very cynical and dishonest to leave it alone to do this," she added.

The French rightist also said that she felt her party was in tune with Maroni's own devolutionist and anti-immigrant Northern League and that they "shared many concerns".

Le Pen, who last January took over the reins of the National Front from her father and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, added that "the Italian press should stop painting us as a xenophobic party. We are not racist nor xenophobic nor anti-semitic. But we do have every right to believe that immigration is not a good thing".

via lifeinitaly.com