• Europe Italy declares "state of emergency" over migration crisis

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, one of the most controversial in the government, has opened a diplomatic crisis with Italy, accusing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of being "unable to fix the problem with immigration" that this country has. He says this on the same day that the Italian foreign minister was due to travel to Paris to meet with his French counterpart. He cancelled his visit and described these statements as unacceptable.

Darmanin, whom many consider an ultra for his controversial statements and one of the ministers most to the right of the Government, again puts the Executive in a bind. "Madame Meloni, from the far-right government elected by the friends of Madame Le Pen (Marine), is incapable of solving the country's migration problems, which is why she was elected," he said in an interview on RCM radio.

Italy is experiencing an unprecedented migration crisis, after the arrival of thousands of migrants on its shores, and the Government declared a state of emergency for six months a few weeks ago to try to deal with this problem. For Darmanin, who has extended his analysis of how the neighboring country manages its crises, "Meloni is like Le Pen, who was elected on the basis of "you will see" and what we see is that immigration does not stop and is amplified. "

Asked about the flows of immigrants that France also has, he has lacked little to blame the French problem on the neighbor, noting that "there are flows of immigrants, especially minors," but that "they arrive from Tunisia through Italy and Italy is unable to manage this migratory pressure."

The first consequence is that the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, has canceled the visit he had planned to make this Thursday to Paris, to meet with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna. "I will not go to Paris," Tajani said on Twitter, saying that "the offenses launched by M. Darmanin against the Italian government are unacceptable. This is not the spirit in which we must face common European challenges."

The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "relations between France and Italy are based on mutual respect, between the two countries and their leaders." He added that "it is also

in the spirit of solidarity that the French Government wishes to work with Italy to meet the common challenge posed by the rapid increase in migratory flows."

Darmanin is often accused of being racist, homophobic and openly flirting with the far right. It also accumulates several complaints of sexual harassment and rape. He is responsible for the immigration law that the Government had planned to debate in Parliament in the coming weeks, but which it has finally decided to put on hold, so as not to create more social fracture, after the approval of the pension reform.

  • Italy
  • Paris
  • France
  • Tunisia

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Learn more