France is trying to get closer to Italy after the latest diplomatic crisis between the two countries over the management of migratory flows. The French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, traveled to Rome on Thursday to meet with her counterpart, Antonio Tajani, and try to calm things down, heated after the French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, accused the Prime Minister a few weeks ago. Italian, Giorgia Meloni, of being "incapable of managing the immigration problem".
Tajani should have traveled to Paris then, but canceled the visit after Darmanin's statements. He called them unacceptable and apologized, which has come in the form of a visit. It has been Colonna, who was ambassador in Rome between 2014 and 2017, who has finally traveled to the neighboring country to meet with Tajani.
Today was a "warm meeting", according to the statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry. A meeting that "confirmed the full importance of Franco-Italian cooperation in facing the challenges facing the two countries". Also, "given the migratory challenge that Italy faces as a country of entry for flows", both ministers "have agreed to strengthen their bilateral cooperation and at the European level" and plan to meet in Paris soon.
Frictions between the two countries, which share a border, are frequent, but have worsened since Giorgia Meloni came to power last fall. In November there was controversy when France decided to take in a ship full of immigrants that Italy had rejected at its port. There has already been an exchange of accusations: Paris said that Rome had been unsupportive and Meloni criticized the "excessive reaction" of the neighboring country.
Darmanin has tightened the rope. Three weeks ago he said Meloni was "incapable of solving the immigration problem, which is what she was elected to do," and compared her to far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Rome has declared a state of emergency in the face of the massive arrival of immigrants to its shores. According to figures from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, half of the 46,000 illegal immigrants who have landed on its shores since the beginning of the year come from French-speaking countries, such as Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast or Tunisia. That is, they have France as their final destination.
The fact that Colonna was ambassador to Rome will help calm things down, although she herself has acknowledged this week that "it is true that there was a moment of astonishment at the statements that were made. We explained ourselves later," she told two days ago. France 2 chain.
At the last summit held a few weeks ago in Reykjavik, Iceland, French President Emmanuel Macron admitted that the EU had to help Italy manage the flows. "The Italian people, as the country of arrival (of the flows), is under very strong migratory pressure. We cannot leave Italy alone."
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