A diplomatic spat with Italy has resulted from comments made by the French interior minister regarding immigration.
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BBC News
Georgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, was "unable to solve the migration problems on which she was elected," according to Gérald Darmanin in an interview on Thursday.
The comments were deemed "unacceptable" by the Italian foreign minister, who then canceled a trip to Paris.
The French foreign ministry attempted to diffuse the conflict by expressing a desire to collaborate with Italy on shared problems.
The number of people arriving in Italy by boat from Tunisia has dramatically increased this year as that country's authorities have begun a campaign against unauthorized migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.
Italy proclaimed a state of emergency as a result of the 42,000 individuals from North Africa who have arrived so far this year, the majority of whom have come from Tunisia.
The far-right Brothers of Italy party, which won elections last year on a promise to limit unauthorized immigration, suffered a defeat as a result of the huge increase in numbers.
Speaking on RMC radio, the French interior minister accused Rome of being "incapable of dealing with migration pressures" and laid the blame for a recent flood of migrants—particularly children—entering the south of France on Rome.
He stated: "And what you see, is that it [immigration] continues and intensifies." Ms. Meloni had run for office on a harsh "just-watch-me" approach.
By tweeting that Gérald Darmanin's "insults to the government and Italy" were unacceptable, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani retaliated. Common European issues shouldn't be approached in this attitude, he declared.
Mr. Tajani postponed a trip to Paris where he was scheduled to see Catherine Colonna, his French counterpart, on Thursday night.
Since then, the French foreign ministry has worked to reduce tensions. In a statement, it stated that "the French government wishes to cooperate with Italy to meet the common challenge of rapidly increasing migrant flows."
Since taking office in October of last year, Italy's right-wing government has had run-ins with its French neighbors before.
Within a few weeks, Rome's ministers had blocked a rescue boat from an NGO from docking with more than 230 migrants on board; France eventually agreed to let the ship land.
However, the Macron administration is also receiving criticism for how it has handled migration crossing the Italian Alps, and the most recent argument was brought on by domestic political pressure.
French prime minister Élisabeth Borne increased police presence at the country's southeast border towards the end of April.
The head of the extreme-right National Rally party said the government's reaction had been ineffective and lax while visiting the region this week.
Giorgia Meloni's "extreme-right government" was picked by allies of Mr. Bardella's National Rally colleague, Marine Le Pen, Mr. Darmanin said during his appearance on French radio.
