The head of Italian diplomacy on Friday demanded an apology from French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. The Quai d'Orsay plays appeasement, without visibly succeeding in calming the Italian ire.
Immigration has been an ultra-sensitive issue in Franco-Italian relations for years. In November, the two countries experienced a surge of fever when the Meloni government, barely in power, refused to let dock a humanitarian ship of the NGO SOS Méditerranée which had ended up being welcomed by the France in Toulon.