Tension between Rome and Berlin has escalated over the issue of undocumented migrants, where both sides are wrong. On one side, the German government uses legalistic arguments, insisting that Italy must take back migrants that landed in Italy and therefore they must be processed on the land of first arrival, as per the Dublin treaty signed by all EU member countries, including Italy.

Italy, on its side, refuses to comply with German requests as long as German NGOs keep dumping in Italy migrants they have rescued in the Mediterranean. It has been calculated that 50% of illegal migrants who arrived in Italy last year came from those NGO ships. Rome insists that German ships should take migrants to Germany.

Currently, one of such NGOs, Sea Watch, has been blocked by Italian authorities and fined (albeit with a minor amount) and is under investigation for suspected collusion with human traffickers.