In the dispute between the governments in Paris and Rome, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has added a pungent criticism of the French President. Emmanuel Macron „talks a lot, but does not achieve much,“ mocked Salvini in a live stream on Facebook last night. „He gives lessons in generosity, but then rejects thousands of migrants on the Italian border.“
He therefore hopes that the French will miss their „terrible president“ in the European elections in May, said Italy’s right-wing vice-head of government.
The answer from Paris was not long in coming. The head of the Ministry of European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau, wrote on Twitter that the French had already decided in the previous presidential election – against the right-wing populist Marine Le Pen, but for Macron.
„What do the Italians get out of it?
Loiseau made no secret of the fact that she considers the words from Rome superfluous at best. „Matteo Salvini insults the French. What do the Italians have from it? Nothing. Does that change the political situation in France? No.“
Italy’s second vice-president Luigi Di Maio had triggered the latest trouble between Paris and Rome. The French Foreign Ministry reportedly appointed the Italian ambassador on Monday after Di Maio had accused France of effectively still maintaining colonies in Africa, profiting from poverty there and driving migrants on their way across the Mediterranean to Europe.
Only the „African (…) colonies“ France owes its world economic position, said the head of the populist five-star movement on Sunday.
