Giorgia Meloni accuses France of "using" her country for domestic political purposes. Head of Italian diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, demanded an apology from Gerald Darmanin.
Immigration has been an ultra-sensitive issue in Franco-Italian relations for years. According to the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 42,000 people have arrived via the Mediterranean in Italy this year. Nearly half of them come from French-speaking countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Tunisia, Cameroon, Burkina Faso)