Italy's hardine interior minister and deputy premier Matteo Salvini on Friday welcomed news that the Libyan coastguard was due to intercept a migrant boat spotted off Libya.
"Another inflatable rubber dinghy in Libyan waters. A Libyan coastguard vessel is going to rescue the migrants and take them back to shore. Good job," read the post.
Salvini earlier launched a fresh attack on German NGO Seawatch, which picked up 53 migrants in the Central Mediterranean on Thursday and wants to land them on Lampedusa not in Tripoli as Salvini demands.
"We are witnessing the umpteenth show," Salvini posted on social media.
"They say they are good, but they are kidnapping women and children in the middle of the sea. Closed ports for them!".
Salvini has launched a crackdown on Seawatch and on Thursday issued a decree ordering law enforcement authorities to take all necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through Italian waters of the Sea Watch 3 ship.
The decree brings fines of up to 50,000 euros for the captain, owner and operator of vessels that enter Italian territorial waters without authorisation, Salvini said.
Italy's parliament, where the coalition government holds a comfortable majority, must vote the decree into law within 60 days.
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