Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that Wagner PMC provokes a migration crisis in Europe. According to him, the uncontrolled immigration of refugees from African territory is the result of a deliberate attempt "to strike at the most vulnerable countries, primarily Italy, and their geostrategic choice." This is reported by the BBC Russian Service. Also earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reported on the provocations of the crisis by the “Wagnerites”.
“The exponential increase in migration from African shores is also largely part of the clear strategy of hybrid warfare that the Wagner Group […] is pursuing using its significant weight in some African countries. (…) Just as the EU, NATO and the West realized that cyber attacks were part of a global confrontation, now they must understand that the southern European front is also becoming more dangerous every day,” Crosetto said.
The Italian Interior Ministry notes that more than 20,000 migrants have already landed on the coast of Italy this year. For the same period last year and the year before, this number was six thousand people each.