French-Italian diplomatic row sparked by immigration comments

This year, Italy witnessed a large number of immigrants by sea from Tunisia, and the authorities launched a campaign to combat illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa.

Most of the 42,000 people who arrived from North Africa this year came from Tunisia, prompting Italy to declare a state of emergency.

The sharp rise in immigrant numbers is a setback for Meloni’s far-right “Brothers of Italy” party, which won elections last year promising to crack down on illegal immigration.

Speaking to RMC radio, the French interior minister said the Italian government was “incapable of dealing with migratory pressures” and blamed Rome for the recent influx of migrants, particularly children, into southern France.

“What we see is that (migration) continues and increases,” he said.

Responding to the French remarks, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Twitter that “Gerald Darmanin’s insults to the government and Italy” were unacceptable.

He added: “This is not the spirit that should be dealt with common European challenges.”

Tajani canceled a visit to Paris, in which he was scheduled to meet his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, on Thursday evening.

Since the comments were made, the French Foreign Ministry has sought to de-escalate tensions, saying in a statement that “the French government wishes to work with Italy to address the common challenge of the rapidly increasing migrant flow”.

This is not the first time that a misunderstanding has occurred between the Italian right-wing government and its French neighbors since taking power last October.

Within weeks, ministers in Rome refused to allow an NGO rescue boat with more than 230 migrants on board to dock, prompting France to allow the boat to enter port.

But the government of French President Emmanuel Macron is also facing criticism over its handling of migration across the Italian Alps, and the latest row stems from domestic political pressure.

At the end of last April, the French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Bourne, reinforced the numbers of police near the southeastern borders of France.

The leader of the far-right National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, said during his visit to the region this week that the government’s response was complacent and helpless.

Darmanan indicated, during his interview with French radio, that the “extreme right-wing government” led by Georgia Meloni was chosen by friends of Bardella’s colleague in the National Rally Party, Marine Le Pen.