French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin angered Italy by criticizing far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over immigration policy, but experts expect that Rome and Paris, which share common interests, will soon regain the language of dialogue.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin angered Italy by criticizing far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over immigration policy, but experts expect that Rome and Paris, which share common interests, will soon regain the language of dialogue.
The issue of immigration has been causing tension in French-Italian relations for years. However, Darmanin exacerbated the situation by declaring that Meloni was “incapable of solving the immigration problems on which she was elected.”
Antonio Tajani, the Italian Foreign Minister, then canceled a scheduled visit to Paris on Thursday evening, where he was to meet his counterpart Catherine Colonna, and on Friday demanded an apology from the French Interior Minister, but to no avail.
Giorgia Meloni’s expected visit in June appears to have been postponed as diplomats in both countries regret seeing months of effort squandered in the space of a few minutes.
“Everyone will go back to their bases quickly,” Giuseppe Bettoni, professor of political geography at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome, believes.
On the Italian side, Meloni has no interest in increasing the pressure at a time when she has a lot to do on the domestic policy front, to manage inflation and allocate funds for the European recovery plan. It is also trying to mitigate differences within its majority regarding the appointment of figures to head public agencies and companies.
“quiet dialogue”
Giuseppe Bettoni believes that French President Emmanuel Macron also has no interest in this controversy.
And he believed that it was “a case caused by Darmanan alone, who is going through a very difficult situation,” referring to the weeks of demonstrations against the reform of the pension system and the violence that permeated them.
Members of the French government called for immediate calm, unlike what happened during the crisis between the two countries in November when the Meloni government refused, shortly after taking power, to allow the docking of a humanitarian ship belonging to the non-governmental organization “SOS Mediterranee”, which France received in Toulon with 200 immigrants on board after all.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne herself tried to calm the situation by calling for “quiet dialogue” and praising Italy, “France’s main partner” on Friday.
“It’s a powerful message,” said Marc Lazar, professor of history and political sociology at Sciences Po. “It is the prime minister who is calling for the restoration of good relations after noticing the great tension,” he said.
Lazar, who specializes in Italian affairs, expected tensions to continue “in the coming months and years.”
But he saw that the two countries realize that they must work together on multiple issues such as renegotiating the economic parameters of the European Stability Agreement. He considered that “given their high level of debt, they need to form a common front against Germany and the so-called frugal countries.”
Don’t be complacent with the extreme right
“This is neither the first nor the last crisis,” said Mathieu Tardis, co-director of Synergies Migration, a think tank on migration. He added that the two countries nevertheless recognize the “need” to quickly resume dialogue to address “very important European issues”.
He believed that “discussions at the European level must reach a European agreement on immigration before the end of the year.”
“In terms of form, it represents a challenge to European governments and the EU in general to prove to public opinion that the EU can take measures and reach an agreement,” even if it is “at a minimum” to save face before the European elections scheduled for 2024, where a strong rise is feared, Tardis said. for far-right parties.
Yet the French and Italian governments seem divided between their efforts to bridge their differences over immigration and their desire to please their constituents.
Added to this is the French government’s desire not to be complacent with a far-right prime minister, at a time when the leader of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, is leading in opinion polls in France.
While members of the French government tried to put an end to the controversy on Friday, Stephane Sejournier, leader of the presidential party in France and close to Emmanuel Macron, saw that Gerald Darmanan was “right in denouncing his incompetence and the inability of the European far right in the face of illegal immigration.”
“We knew that their method was neither fair nor humane, and today we see that it is also ineffective,” he said on Twitter.
