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Christian Masset, French Ambassador to Italy, met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on February 15, 2019. Handout / Italian Presidency press office / AFP

A week after his spectacular recall in Paris, Christian Masset returned to the Italian capital with the intention of continuing his work and opening a new page between the two neighbors. The diplomat told reporters last night.

With our correspondent in Rome, Eric Sénanque

" I am happy to be able to turn on the light again, " Christian Masset told a handful of French and Italian journalists from his spectacular office at the Palais Farnese. The diplomat recalled how the Franco-Italian relationship was an ancient base, a base on which it was necessary to continue the cooperation, for the good of both countries, but also of their partners, European Union in mind. " A relationship that can not be attacked, " he said.

For the ambassador, " France is ready to work on all matters with Italy including disagreements, but with mutual respect and willingness to cooperate, " the only conditions for moving forward. Christian Masset talks about a new sequence that is now opening between the two countries.

The Franco-Italian friendship, " it's not just words, " confided the diplomat. The hatchet seems well and truly buried between Rome and Paris. Upon his arrival, the ambassador was received at the Quirinal Palace by Italian President Sergio Mattarella. The opportunity to give him a letter from Emmanuel Macron in which the French President invites his counterpart to make a state visit to Paris in the coming months.