No end in sight to Italy-France friction

Last week saw a most unusual development between two members of the EU as, for the first time in the 70 years since the end of the Second World War, a member of the bloc recalled its ambassador from another member state. In this case, the French government recalled its envoy from Italy.

The immediate provocation had been a controversial meeting between Italian Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the extreme-left Five Star Movement Luigi Di Maio and some members of French street movement the “gilets jaunes” (yellow vests), which has plagued the French government with its weekly protests and has caused huge embarrassment to President Emmanuel Macron.

While the recall of the ambassador may be a historic low, relations between the second and third-largest continental European economies have been testy for nearly four years — ever since the migrant crisis hit European shores in 2015.

Italy, which, along with Greece, has been at the forefront of receiving the majority of those arriving by sea, has long criticized France for closing the border between the two nations to migrants, thus leaving Italy alone to deal with a crisis that is essentially a European problem. Italy accuses France, and with a whole lot of justification, of shirking its responsibility as a large European member to deal with the crisis and take in its share of migrants.

Breaking the moral and legal obligations placed on it by the Schengen Agreement, which allows visa-free travel between its 26 member states, France used its police to turn back refugees who were trying to move from Italy.

Relations between the two nations took a dramatic plunge downward with the formation of a bizarre coalition government of Di Maio’s Five Star and the extremeright Northern League after the elections last year. Though at opposing ends of the political spectrum, both are extremely anti-Europe. And they have both been highly critical of the pro-EU approach of Macron, causing a war of words between the two countries.

While Macron has described the Italian and other nationalist governments in Europe as a form of “leprosy” that is attacking Europe, the Italian leaders have blasted the ultra-liberal economic policies of Macron and some others for reducing the purchasing power of their citizens, who have been forced to take to the streets to protest.

France’s recall of its envoy to Italy seems to have been a response strong enough to shake the relationship and force the Italian government to tone down its comments. However, expect the fireworks to continue for at least a couple more months. With the European elections around the corner, the Italian coalition’s members are hardly likely to turn sober quickly, while Macron’s own En Marche party, which has been undergoing severe convulsions since the beginning of the yellow vest protests, is also keen not to be seen as losing face to a foreign power.