Hundreds of people have tried to force their way into the North African Spanish enclave of Ceuta in recent days, while Italy is grappling with a new wave of arrivals crossing the central Mediterranean aboard small boats.
"In any case, it won't be this government that reforms the justice and tax system," Salvini told La Repubblica daily, saying centre-left parties within the broad-based cabinet had very different views to their centre-right counterparts.
The EU money will only be released in tranches, meaning the taps could be closed if the reforms fail to materialise.