The French minister for European affairs said on Wednesday that her country would not enter the "most stupid competition" with Italian leaders who are making strong statements against French President Emmanuel Macaron.
"We do not intend to enter the most stupid competition," Natalie Luzzatto said at the end of the cabinet, hinting that Paris would not fight a war of words or a campaign to respond to Rome.
"When some of the words are so profane and so numerous, it becomes meaningless."
But she said it was unlikely French officials would visit Italy in such an atmosphere, whatever the will to work together.
"We have a lot to do with an important neighbor like Italy. We want to be able to work together," she said.
"But does this mean that the terrible atmosphere allows for ministerial visits, as if nothing had happened?" "I will go to Italy when things calm down," she warned.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salveni, who is trying to form a European front for the extreme right, has been confronting pro-EU supporters in preparation for European elections in May, drawing rare criticisms of the French president.
Salveni, head of the party, said Tuesday he hoped the French people would soon be freed from a "very bad president," something unprecedented among officials of the two founding nations of the European Union.
On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi de Mayo accused the leader of the "five-star movement" (hostile to the institutions of government), France of "impoverishing Africa" and pushing immigrants to go to Europe because of its "colonial" policy.
Italy's ambassador to France was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Monday after the comments were deemed "unacceptable and meaningless".
Apart from this call, the French authorities have been calm in their reactions and avoided escalating the situation with Rome, at a time when Macaron is facing the crisis of "yellow jackets" in France.