Italy wants an apology after Darmanin’s remarks on immigration, France in no hurry to present one

IMMIGRATION – The day after Gérald Darmanin’s critical remarks on “incapacity” of the president of the council Giorgia Meloni to manage immigration, beyond the Alps, Italian diplomacy demands this Friday, May 5, an apology from the French Minister of the Interior. If Paris is playing appeasement with Rome, no member of the government who has spoken since has yet hinted that France would go back on his remarks.

“It’s a gratuitous and vulgar insult addressed to a friendly, allied country” And “When someone gratuitously offends another person, the minimum is for them to apologize”said Thursday Antonio Tajani, the head of Italian diplomacy, in a daily interview Il Corriere della Sera. “There are things that cannot be ignored”he insisted, assuring that this was a “stab in the back”.

This Friday morning, several members of the government were questioned about this diplomatic quarrel, starting with Pap Ndiaye, the Minister of National Education. ” I don’t think we have to make excuses.” to Italy, he estimated on franceinfo. If there is “obviously adjustments to be made” between France and Italy on the migration issue, it would be preferable to ” renew the threads of a serene dialogue” rather than asking for forgiveness, he still judged.

“No desire to ostracize Italy”

French government spokesman Olivier Véran also tried to put out the fire, assuring CNews that there had been no “no desire to ostracize Italy”. “The Italians, we discuss, they love politics, but they assume the choices they have made and they want to be left to assume their choices”he explained, “and that’s good because we have no intention of doing otherwise”.

More nuanced, Transport Minister Clément Beaune, who embodies the left wing of the presidential majority, gave “political reason” to Gérald Darmanin who recalled “what the extreme right is everywhere, in Italy as elsewhere, which makes many promises and solves few problems”.

Asked by AFP, the French Ministry of the Interior did not wish to comment on Friday on the requests for apologies from the Italian government.

Faced with the escalation, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna tried to calm things down on Thursday, ” Hoping “ that the visit of the head of Italian diplomacy to Paris, canceled following the comments of Gérald Darmanin, would be “quickly rescheduled”. The bilateral relationship is “based on mutual respect, between our two countries and between their leaders”she also pointed out.

“Catherine Colonna called me twice, to tell me she was sorry, she was very cordial”assured Antonio Tajani, while considering that the explanations of Paris remained “insufficient”.

And it was ultimately Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne who was the last to react to this diplomatic quarrel on Friday, pleading for a ” consultation ” and one ” peaceful dialogue between France and Italy.

“JI would like to repeat that Italy is an essential partner of France, that our relationship is based on mutual respect”she pleaded after a meeting at Matignon with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Immigration has been an extremely sensitive subject in Franco-Italian relations for years. In November, the two countries experienced a strong outbreak of fever when the Meloni government, barely in power, refused to allow a humanitarian ship from the NGO SOS Méditerranée to dock, which ended up being welcomed by France in Toulon with more of 200 migrants on board.

The episode had angered Paris, which had called a European meeting so that this unprecedented scenario did not happen again. Since then, clandestine boat crossings have increased with the development of a new maritime corridor between Tunisia and Italy, on the front line at the gates of Europe. According to the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 42,000 people have arrived via the Mediterranean in Italy this year compared to around 11,000 over the same period in 2022.

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