French Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne on Friday called for a "calm dialogue" with Rome on migration, hours after Italy asked for an apology for the "insult" of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

A diplomatic crisis erupted Thursday between the two pivotal European Union countries, after Darmanan said Meloni was "powerless" to solve her country's migration problem, a statement that drew sharp criticism from Italy, and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani canceled a planned visit to the French capital.

The French prime minister sought to complete the attempt to address the consequences of the crisis by stressing Paris' "respect" for Rome.

"I reiterate that Italy is a key partner of France, that our relationship is based on mutual respect, and that we will prioritize consultation and calm dialogue to continue working together," Bourne told reporters.

This came in response to a question about the possibility of offering an apology to Italy, after meeting in Paris with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

The latter stressed after the brief response of his counterpart: "I agree 100%, for us also Italy is a major partner."

This came hours after the Italian foreign minister considered the French minister's comments an unjustified "insult" to Meloni.

Antonio Tajani said in an interview with the newspaper El Corriere della Sera, "It is an unjustified and vulgar insult directed at a friendly and allied country" and "when someone offends another person without justification, the minimum is to apologize."

Darmanan said Meloni was "incapable of solving immigration problems" in her country.

Contacted by AFP on Friday, the French Interior Ministry did not want to comment on the Italian government's request for an apology, and Meloni itself has yet to comment on the crisis since it began.

Tajani called Darmanan's comments "unacceptable" and cancelled a planned visit to the French capital.


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.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna wrote in Italian on Twitter: "I spoke on the phone with my colleague Antonio Tajani and assured him that the relationship between Italy and France is based on mutual respect."

"Catherine Colonna called me twice to express her regret, she was very friendly," said Taiani, adding that the explanations given by Paris were still "insufficient".

"It's a cold attack, a stab in the back from a senior member of the French government. There are things that cannot be ignored. However, the rest of Macron's government certainly doesn't think like Darmanan."

Meloni promises

Immigration has been a highly sensitive topic in Franco-Italian relations for years.

In November, the two countries saw a significant increase in migrant crossings when the Meloni government refused shortly after taking office to allow the SOS Med humanitarian ship, which France ended up receiving in Toulon with 200 migrants on board, to dock.

The incident angered France, which called for a meeting at the European level so that the unprecedented scenario would not be repeated.

Causes of disagreement

Since then, clandestine boat crossings have increased, with the emergence of a new sea corridor between Tunisia and Italy, one of Europe's most prominent gateways for irregular migrants.

Italy's interior ministry says more than 42,11 people have arrived in Italy this year via the Mediterranean, up from about 2022,<> during the same period in <>.

But about half of them come from French-speaking countries (Ivory Coast, Guinea, Tunisia, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Mali), according to figures from the Italian Interior Ministry.

The director of the French Office for Migration and Integration, Didier Leche, considered that "this is why the tensions between the two countries are strong."

French government spokesman Olivier Véran on Friday tried to calm people, saying "there is no desire to ostracize Italy."

"Italians, they discuss, they love politics, but they take responsibility for the choices they made and they want us to let them take responsibility for their choices, and that's good because we don't intend to do anything else."

Later, Antonio Tajani also appeared to want to ease tensions, saying that "the words uttered by the French government spokesman go in the direction of someone who realizes that he has made a grave mistake."

Asked about the dispute on the sidelines of a trip to Florence, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said migration flows were a "common problem" in EU countries that must be managed "with maximum unity".

"I am sure that these difficulties will be overcome."

In addition to the news of Napoli's Serie A crown, the new rift between the neighbouring countries made Italian headlines on Friday morning.

La Repubblica, a center-left daily newspaper, wrote about the "Paris slap", while La Stampa reported that "combating illegal immigration was one of Meloni's central themes during the election campaign" in the summer of 2022.