Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday canceled a planned visit to Paris after comments by the French interior minister deemed "unacceptable", considering Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni "incapable of solving migration problems" in her country.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Thursday that Meloni was "unable to solve migration problems" in her country, which is witnessing record arrivals of migrants across the Mediterranean.
Darmanin said Meloni, like far-right nationalist French politician Marie Le Pen, had vowed to crack down on
immigration, but since her election, things have only worsened.
"Yes, there is an influx of migrants, especially minors" to the south of France, he said, blaming Italy for this: "The truth is that there is in Tunisia (...) "A political situation that pushes a large number of children to cross through Italy, and that Italy is unable (...) to deal with this pressure from migrants."
Members of Italy's right-wing government coalition, as well as former ministers, reacted angrily to the remarks.
Rome also reacted quickly to the French interior minister's comments, with Italy's foreign minister cancelling a meeting scheduled for Thursday evening in Paris with his counterpart Catherine Colonna.
"I will not go to Paris to participate in the meeting that was scheduled with Minister Colonna," Tajani wrote on Twitter, noting that "Interior Minister Gérald Darmanan's insults against the government and Italy are unacceptable."
Rome says more than 42,<> people have arrived in Italy this year via the Mediterranean (Getty Images)
In a bid to de-escalate, France's foreign ministry issued a clarification saying it "hoped" a new date would be set for the Italian foreign minister's visit.
Colonna wrote in Italian on Twitter: "I have spoken on the phone with my colleague Antonio Tajani." "I assured him that the relationship between Italy and France is based on mutual respect."
Following Darmanan's remarks, the French Foreign Ministry said that "the French government wants to work with Italy to address the common challenge of rapidly increasing the flow of migrants."
The ministry stressed that the relationship between France and Italy "is based on mutual respect between the two countries and their leaders."
A serious crisis
Immigration has been a highly sensitive topic in French-Italian relations for years.
In November, the two countries suffered a spike in migrant arrivals when the Meloni government refused shortly after taking office to allow the SOS Med humanitarian ship, which was first received by France in Toulon, to dock.
The incident angered France, which has called a meeting at the European level so that the unprecedented scenario is not repeated.
Since then, clandestine boat crossings have increased with the emergence of a new sea corridor between Tunisia and Italy, which is at the forefront of Europe's doorstep.
The Italian Interior Ministry says more than 42,11 people have arrived in Italy this year via the Mediterranean, compared to about 2022,<> during the same period in <>.
At the end of April, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born announced the mobilization of 150 "additional" police and gendarmerie personnel in the Alps to deal with "growing migration pressure at the Italian border" as well as the creation of a "border force".