It is again a diplomatic crisis between Italy and Francenot even 40 days after the first bilateral between Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni in Brussels, which had opened to the thaw after weeks (indeed, months) of tensions and misunderstandings. This time, however, the French are doing everything, alone, and it is the Italians who, as Paolo Conte’s song said about Gino Bartali’s victory in the Tour de France, ‘still piss them off’ and are ‘pissed off’.
It was Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin who set fire to the gunpowderwho, speaking on a radio, accused Giorgia Meloni of being “incapable of solving migratory problems”. The reaction of Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was immediate, who was expected last night in Paris for a meeting on the agenda for some time with his colleague Catherine Colonna, a meeting which he cancelled. First, indeed, Tajani leaked that the mission was at risk“in the absence of a decisive and definitive clarification”. Then he called Darmanin’s words “unacceptable”.“a stab in the back” (phrase that evokes a very stinging historical quotation for the French who judged Italy’s entry into the war, alongside Germany, and against France, when the latter was already a ‘stab in the back’ defeat). A note from the French Foreign Ministry arrived shortly after, which he tried, but too late, to mend, reiterating how “the relationship between France and Italy is based on mutual respect, between our two countries and between their leaders, this is the spirit of the Quirinale Treaty”. “It is also in a spirit of solidarity that the French government wishes to work with Italy to address the common challenge of rapidly increasing migratory flows“, then assured the Quai d’Orsay.
But for the owner of the Farnesina, who coordinated with Palazzo Chigi all the time, it was not enough and on Twitter Tajani announced: “I will not go to Paris for the planned meeting with Colonna. Minister Darmanin’s insults to the government and to Italy are unacceptable”. According to beraking latest news from informed sources, the minister did not consider the Quai d’Orsay note sufficient and decided to postpone the visit. The incident, therefore, is not closed. “I hope to welcome him to Paris soon,” Catherine Colonna, who was France’s ambassador to Italy, replied on Twitter, giving the news of a telephone conversation with Tajani to talk about what happened and try to mend.
“Darmanin shot her very hard – admit sources in Paris – but in reality he wanted to hit Le Pen, not open a conflict with Italy” were the French attempts to reduce the crisis. And indeed his words came in response to the criticisms of the president of the Rassemblement national, Jordan Bardella, on the management of the situation at the Franco-Italian border: “Yes, there is an influx of migrants and in particular of minors” in the south of France, acknowledged the minister, “the truth is that there is a political situation in Tunisia which means that many minors in particular come up through Italy and that Italy does not is able to handle this migratory pressure”. Then the lunge: “Meloni is like Le Pen, she is elected on the basis of ‘you will see what you will see’ and then what we see is that immigration does not stop and that it increases” In short, it may have been ‘decontextualized’, but the accusations were heavy.
“Things between Italy and France will continue to be very complicated also in the coming weeks”, underline the French sources, according to whom it was illusory to think that the March meeting between Meloni and Macron, however well it went, could have smoothed out the tensions, in particular on the issue of migratory flows. Because “the perception that one has in Paris as in Europe is that you don’t really understand what Italy wants, you recriminate a lot but you don’t say what you want”. More salt that is sprinkled on the wounds.
The tension, of course, immediately mounts. The defense minister, Guido Crosetto, issues a very harsh note in which, in essence, he says that Darmanin should present a “formal apology” to the government and to President Meloni: “This strange and incomprehensible attitude of some representatives of European governments to try to interfere in Italian public life today has passed the guard level,” he said Crosetti. “French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin should issue a formal apology to our government and to President Meloni. The truth is, we need everything right now except more division. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that undermining relations between founding countries of the EU can only weaken each of us. The huge ones migratory flows we are witnessing today are unfortunately the result of too many mistakes made over decades in Africa from many nations. It would be better to reflect on these wrong choices and avoid making new ones rather than seek controversy at all costs, perhaps for internal political ends. Many speak of the importance of the Quirinale treaty, but to be consistent it should be respected and implemented and not hurt it with outsized exits. As Italy, we have proposed a new Mattei plan for Africa and we have made it available to all EU countries. We would also like to talk to France about how to solve the problems of immigration in a serious and common way, not arguing in public to get a newspaper headline or an extra vote, concludes the minister.
But not only the members of the executive or the forces of the majority to protest against France and its minister, but also part of the opposition. “The opposition to the Meloni government is being done by the Italian opposition (and we are gaining ground). French minister Darmanin can calmly devote himself to his internal problems. But the umpteenth diplomatic crisis with France, fueled by the government’s choices, is not in the national interestPeppe Provenzano, foreign affairs manager of the national secretariat of the Democratic Party replies curtly on Twitter. A defense that is not taken for granted.The Italian government certainly has many difficulties in dealing with the migrant emergency and he certainly made mistakes, even against France. We didn’t give him discounts and we won’t give them any. However, this does not authorize a French minister to issue judgments on the work of our Prime Minister for topics and choices on which he answers to the Italian people. As an Italian, who has the image of Italy and the protection of the national interest at heart, I believe that Minister Darmanin’s words are completely inappropriate” replies Mariastella Gelmini, deputy secretary and spokesperson for Action.
Yet, after last November’s diplomatic crisis linked to the Ocean Viking case, relations between Rome and Paris had begun to relax. Darmanin himself had received his Italian counterpart, Matteo Piantedosi, in Paris, and a joint mission of the two ministers to Tunis was planned. Also Emmanuel Macron had promised full coordination with Giorgia Meloni on the migrant emergency in Tunisia, after the two leaders had met for a long time in Brussels, on the sidelines of the European Council. Who knows, until next time, what they will say…
And if it is true that Darmanin spoke in the context of a broadcast called Les Big Mouths (in Italian it could be translated more or less with «With open mouth», like the format that years ago made the fortune of Gianfranco Funari) of RMC, where he spoke his words freely, worst moment, Darmanin, could not find: her Foreign Minister colleague Catherine Colonna, also a former ambassador in Rome, was finalizing the final details before receiving the Italian minister Antonio Tajani at the Quai d’Orsay at 7.30 pm for a meeting between the heads of the two diplomacies prepared for a long time and finally arrived.
But, in fact, the meeting was canceled by Tajani. Matteo Salvini – also deputy prime minister – says that Italy «does not accept lessons from those who reject women and children and host terrorists».
Darmanin’s exit therefore contradicts months of meetings between the two governments and a renewed willingness to work together after the similar crisis in November on the Ocean Viking. Months of non-rhetorical closeness – or at least not only – between the two countries celebrated by the Paris Book Festival that has just ended: Italy as guest of honour, the interview with Corsair by Sergio Mattarella on the importance of culture to build ties in Europe, the presence at the festival of Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano who declared himself a great lover of French literature. A climate of trust that had just been rebuilt but nothing to do. He starts over. And it will be harder.
The impression is that Darmanin’s move is not premeditatedwhich would perhaps make it even more inopportune: Moreover, the French government still lacks an absolute majority within the National Assembly and Darmanin’s phrases have the only effect of effectively sabotaging a rapprochement with Rome to which the president Macron seemed to care a lot. Tajani’s visit also served to prepare for the most important meeting, the one between Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron, who has been inviting the Italian premier to the Elysée for months. It seemed that Meloni could come to Paris before the summer, but at this point the rapprochement is interrupted and relations as well.
The truth is that the diplomatic crisis that erupted today between Italy and France after Darmanin’s words points to the heart of a problem that has been digging a furrow between Paris and Rome for years: that of migrants. The resentment of the Macron government towards that of Giorgia Meloni stems from two distinct factors: one that concerns the substance of the problem and a second caused by internal issues of French politics. A few days ago, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced to the National Assembly that the government in Paris was preparing to deploy 150 gendarmes and soldiers on the border with Italy precisely to strengthen controls against the illegal passage of migrants.
Emmanuel’s executive Macron fears that the wave of migrants arriving on the Italian coasts could go up the peninsula, trying to reach France; but on the other hand he is also pressed by internal political reasons. The Elysee had to postpone the approval of the new immigration law because it does not have sufficient numbers in Parliament. Raising a “big voice” against Italy and in particular against “Le Pen’s friends” can be useful in recovering Macron is therefore pressed by the far right precisely on the issue of the arrivals of migrants from Italy: “The situation is control» said the president of the Rassemblement National Jordan Bardella (Marine Le Pen’s «dolphin») on a visit to the reception center in Nice.
Macron’s line is therefore clear: faced with a quadrupled number of landings in Italy compared to a year ago (we are now at 40,000), France is concerned by the so-called “secondary movements”, i.e. foreigners attempting to enter France clandestinely. In 2021, the feat succeeded 21,000 people. On the other hand, according to the Dublin Treaty, everyone these migrants should have remained in charge of Italy. Paris also argues that France faces a greater reception effort than Italy. But these are internal political problems that France wants to make Italy pay for and this simply appears decidedly unacceptable.