France remembers the ambassador of Rome after the worst verbal attack "since the war" | News from the world

Paris has taken the extraordinary step of recalling its ambbadador from Rome in the worst crisis between the two neighboring countries since the Second World War.

France blamed what it called baseless verbal attacks by Italian political leaders, which it described as "unprecedented since the Second World War".

The two Italian vice prime ministers, right-wing Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio of the five-star anti-establishment populist movement, have been criticizing French President Emmanuel Macron for his numerous incendiary questions over the last few months. immigration to yellow vests (yellow vest) anti-government demonstrations.

This week, Di Maio met the leaders of the yellow vests and said: "The wind of change has crossed the Alps." France said this comment was an unacceptable "provocation".

Announcing the immediate return of his ambbadador for talks, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "For several months, France is the target of repeated attacks without foundation and outrageous statements. Having disagreements is one thing, but manipulating the relationship for election purposes is another.

"All these actions create a serious situation that raises questions about the intentions of the Italian government with regard to France."

Salvini responded by saying that the Italian government did not want to quarrel with France and suggested a meeting with Macron to repair the relationship.

But in a new excavation at Macron, he said that France must first address three "fundamental" issues: the French police should stop sending migrants back to Italy, put an end to long border controls blocking traffic and put back about 15 Italian left-wing activists have been refugees in France in recent decades.

The long political quarrel between Italy and France has been perceived as the biggest crisis between the two countries since 1945. Both parties were first perceived as using their differences for electoral reasons – Salvini for pushing his far-right agenda and Macron calling himself a centrist counterweight to populism in the May European elections.

Relations deteriorated after the Italian populist government came to power last June. Macron, who was under pressure at home for not accepting the migrating Aquarius ship that Salvini had diverted from Italian ports, said populism was spreading across Europe "a bit like leprosy".

He did not call Italy, but the comment on leprosy was interpreted as directly targeting Rome.

Salvini called Macron a very bad French president. "I hope the French will be able to free themselves from a terrible president," he said in a Facebook video, calling on French voters not to support the party for The Republic in Macron's march during the European vote. Salvini is close to the presidential rival of Macron, the leader of the far-right French Marine Le Pen, whose National Rally party is currently neck and neck with Macron's party in polls ahead of the May European elections .

Last month, Di Maio accused France of impoverishing Africa and causing the migration crisis. Furious, the French Foreign Ministry immediately summoned the Italian envoy to France for talks on what he described as "hostile" remarks.

Relations were already so tense that France and Italy did not hold a traditional joint summit last year. Tensions over immigration and the role of France in the 2011 military intervention in Libya have steadily increased.

Countries even disagreed with the celebrations of the Renaissance master, Leonardo da Vinci, and Italy questioned the loan of works for a major commemorative show at the Louvre Museum in Paris.