European Parliament. Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister (2018–2019) On 1 June 2018, Matteo Salvini was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. He immediately stated that his main aim was to drastically reduce the number of illegal immigrants to Italy. Early in his tenure, numerous media outlets noted that despite Salvini's junior status in the governing coalition, he placed himself in a role even more dominant than Conte and appeared to set Italy's agenda. The media also noted Salvini's "savvy social media presence." Days after taking his oath, the new Interior Minister created a diplomatic incident with Tunisia, stating that the country sent Italy only convicts who came to Europe with the sole aim of committing crimes. The Tunisian government expressed "profound amazement at the remarks of the Italian interior minister regarding immigration." On 10 June 2018, Salvini announced the closure of Italian ports, stating that "Everyone in Europe is doing their own business, now Italy is also raising its head. Let's stop the business of illegal immigration." The vessel Aquarius, which is operated jointly by Médecins Sans Frontières and SOS Méditerranée and carried more than 600 migrants, was refused a port of disembarkation by the Italian authorities despite having been told to rescue the migrants by the same co-ordination centre. The Italian authority told the vessel to ask Malta to provide a disembarkation port, but Malta has also refused. On the following day, the new Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accepted the disputed migrant ship. On 16 June 2018, Matteo Salvini said, "These people should know that Italy no longer wants to be any part of this business of clandestine immigration and they will have to look for other ports to go to", adding "As minister and as a father, I take this action for the benefit of all". On 18 June 2018, Salvini announced the government would conduct a census of Romani people in Italy for the purpose of deporting all who are not in the country legally. However, this measure was criticized as unconstitutional and was opposed by all the opposition parties and also by some members of the M5S. On 19 June 2018, Salvini announced his intention to conduct a compulsive racial census of Italians to register Roma people, while stating that Roma who are Italians could "unfortunately" not be deported. This caused an outcry in Italy since racial registration is