Two important officials of Italy’s center-right have called for more serious measures against the waves of migrants arriving on Italian shores, after a French minister warned of a “major risk” of jihadists mingling amidst the migrants arriving into Italy. Senator Maurizio Gasparri, a leader of the Forza Italia Party who made international news when he said that Al-Qaeda was “happier” after Obama’s election to the White House, has called for the closure of Italy’s maritime borders. “While Islamic terrorism is committing massacres in Damascus and in deep Africa with Boko Haram, the news that Lampedusa could be welcoming terrorists should prompt our government to close the maritime borders. Instead, they continue to welcome immigrants into Italy,” Gasparri said in criticism of the Renzi government. “Islamists in Libya have reportedly acquired chemical weapons, and their coasts do nothing to stop departures to our country. We need to change course and carry out massive deportations, as Sweden has announced they will do. But first, we must prevent the arrival of more people into our country,” he said. Similar measures were proposed by Giorgia Meloni, the Vice-President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, who called for a naval blockade along the Libyan coast.