France presses Italy in historic EU dispute

PARIS — France’s proEU government and Italy’s populist leaders sparred anew Friday amid the neighbors’ biggest diplomatic spat since World War II.

French officials said Friday that this week’s recall of French Ambassador Christian Masset was prompted by months of “unfounded attacks” from Italian government members Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, who have criticized French President Emmanuel Macron’s economic and migration policies.

But the main trigger for the crisis appeared to be Di Maio’s meeting in a Paris suburb this week with members of the yellow vests — a French antigovernment movement seeking seats in the European Parliament — without informing French leaders, who considered it an unwarranted intrusion into the nation’s internal affairs.