The American businessman and billionaire George Soros was in Italy to speak with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in a secret meeting that happened on the first days of May.
Asked about the reason for the encounter, Mr Gentiloni confirmed it (which strangely haven't been announced through the official channels of the government), but he didn't say what they talked about.
Alitalia or NGO?
Someone thought the theme was Alitalia, the Italian flight company near to failure and a few weeks ago saved by the State, which now wants to find an investor to whom sell it.
Others suggested they could have spoken about NGO: Mr Soros financed a lot of organisations and apparently some of them are being investigated by Italian prosecutor's officers because of their relationship with traffickers that carried migrants from North Africa to Europe (the situation is still disastrous).
Even if the European co-director of Mr Soros' foundation, Jordy Vaquer, denied relations with those NGO that are operating between Libya and Sicily in search-and-rescue operations, there are some unclear financing among the known money movement.
Soros' interest on refugees
It's true that, according to some files on the activities of Soros' Open Society Foundation, leaked and published in 2016, the only three Italian organisations directly financed by Mr Soros are: "Urpe", which promotes Rom culture, "Arcigay" which is interested in LGBT themes, and "21 Luglio", which put together activists paying attention to human rights and to wellness of the children.
However, there are collaborations, according to Mr Vaquer, with other Italian associations: "A buon diritto", interested in human rights, "Carta di Roma", which deals with correct information on migration, and "Asgi", involved in migrations' rights. Also, Mrs Maria Grazia Bruzzone observed in the Italian newspaper "La Stampa" (quoting a French post by Lucien Pons) that Soros' foundation gave around 50 thousand dollars to "Italiani Alternativi", that it is not a single group, but a label under which various organisations that give voice to "migrants and young people" are listed in.
After all, one of the aims of the Foundation is clear and declared: make the European people favourable toward the fall of the borders and the coming of the migrants.
Call for transparency on the meeting
Despite the absence of a direct intervention on the migration phenomenon from North Africa to Europe, Soros could have interests in the welcoming of refugees in the country.
So, some Italian politicians and members of Parliament called for transparency on the reason for the meeting.
Mrs Angela Mauro suggested in the "Huffington Post" that the Italian PM could have organised it, looking for some investors, after a decrease of capital in the country in the last 9 months of 2016 (around 100 billion dollars fewer). The hospitality of refugees could be a great card to persuade Soros to bet on Belpaese.
