French President Emmanuel Macron
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron’s government recalled its ambassador to Rome on Thursday in a move unprecedented since World War Two, saying it was fed up with “repeated, baseless” attacks by Italian political leaders against France.
The diplomatic blow, highly unusual among fellow members of the European Union, was announced by the foreign ministry in a statement. Diplomatic sources said Paris acted after a series of verbal assaults from Italy’s deputy prime ministers, capped by Luigi di Maio, head of the anti-establishment 5-Star movement, meeting this week with France’s “yellow vest” protesters, who have mounted a months-long anti-Macron campaign.
“France has been, for several months, the target of repeated, baseless attacks and outrageous statements,” the foreign ministry said.
“Having disagreements is one thing, but manipulating the relationship for electoral aims is another,” it added, calling Italy’s behaviour the worst of its kind since World War Two, when Benito Mussolini declared war on France in 1940.
While it is the first time that France has withdrawn its ambassador to Italy since 1945, it is not unprecedented among EU members. In 2016, Greece recalled its ambassador to Austria, and in 2017 Hungary withdrew its envoy to the Netherlands.
Relations between Italy and France, traditionally close allies, have grown increasingly tense since mid-2018, with Di Maio and his fellow deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party, firing pot-shots at Macron and France, mostly because of disagreements over migration policy.
