On Thursday 4 May, Minister for abroad Affairs Italy Antonio Tajani cancelled his visit to France, after French Home Minister Gérald Darmanin had previously accused Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of inability to solve the issue of migration and to lie to his voters who had brought her to power in the October 2022 elections. G. Darmanin besides compared G. Meloni to French nationalist opposition (?) Marine Le Pen, stating that "The utmost right has a habit – a habit of lying to voters."
A. Tajani answered: “I have nothing to do with the far right. (...) Italy has a centre-right government, not an utmost right." However, the Italian minister besides appealed, despite France's immediate declaration that Paris is ensuring its willingness to proceed to cooperate with Rome, his visit to the capital of France, stating that he could not attend a bilateral gathering of governments, which would besides be attended by a minister who ‘sold without reason’ and ‘disrespected’ Italy and its Prime Minister. The authoritative apology from G. Darmanin was besides requested by a close political associate of Prime Minister G. Meloni and besides Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto.
G. Dermanin is simply a close political ally of president Emmanuel Macron, who is designated by the French press as a possible future candidate for the position of head of state. His words are a blow to both the Italian government and the French right-wing opposition with the Rassemblement National. Tandem Macron-Dermanin had already politically clashed with G. Meloni in November 2022 erstwhile Italy refused to moor a lifeboat with refugees from Africa, which was so directed to France. The French Home Minister then accused Italy of ‘selfishness’.
Headed by G. Meloni, the coalition government of the Italian Brethren (owned by Fratelli d’Italia – the home organization of G. Meloni), the League (owned by Lega per Salvini – leader of Matteo Salvini) and Forward Italy (owned by Forza Italia – leader of Silvio Berlusconi) adopted in April a bill tightening the admission criteria and expanding penalties for smugglers, however, this did not change the fact that during the period of G. Meloni's regulation the stream of immigration to Italy dramatically increased: from the beginning of 2023 42 400 immigrants arrived in the country, while in the same period only 11 220 arrived.
G. Dermanin's attack on G. Meloni coincided with the gathering of the second with Gen. Chalifa Haftar, controlling Cyrenajka, being 1 of the main centers of the spread of illegal immigrants to Europe. The Italian Government declares its willingness to regain a position for its country in the Mediterranean pool, which was shaken with the overthrow of Muammar al-Kaddafi in 2011, a silent ally of Rome. 1 of the drivers of aggression against Libya was, in the meantime, Paris, which thus pushed for an increase in its own influence in the region at the expense of Rome.
G. Meloni-M. Salviniegi-S. Berlusconi's crew, due to the opinion of "highly right" or "post-fascist", has a weaker position in Europe than erstwhile Palazzo Chigi Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Tandem Macron-Dermanin uses this both to torpedo Rome's efforts in the Mediterranean pool, and to strengthen itself on the interior arena against problems with the implementation of the unpopular, due to the fact that the extended working time of the pension improvement and the threat of the government's problems being exploited by the opposition Rassemblement National.
The current conflict is another installment of the French-Italian disputes that have been recurring for years, which are motivated primarily ideologically. As of 26 November 2021, both countries have been linked by the Quinine Treaty, providing for coordination of policies in the fields of foreign, defence, migration, economic, educational, R & D and cross-border cooperation.
Work on the treaty has continued since 2018, but it has been discontinued for the duration of the "populistic" regulation of the League and the 5 Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stella), and it was resumed after the creation of the pro-French government of M. Draghi in February 2021. The Paris-Rome Alliance, however, began to disintegrate again after the installation in Palazzo Chigi of the "extremely right" government of G. Meloni, despite the ostentatious cut-off by its parent organization of the Italian Brothers from the post-fascist past and ensuring evolution towards systemic conservatism.
Ronald Lasecki
