A new Franco-Italian crisis regarding migratory; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is “incapable of managing the migration problems” of her country, which is experiencing record arrivals from North Africa, France’s interior minister has claimed Géral Darmanen.

This statement, on French radio RMC, provoked an immediate reaction from Rome: Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani canceled an official visit to Paris, writing on Twitter that what Darmanen said was “unacceptable” and an insult to Italy .

Tajani was due to meet his French counterpart Catherine Colonna later today. This would be his first visit to France since taking office, and Foreign Office spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said it would “be an opportunity for the two ministers to discuss support for Ukraine and shared challenges in the Mediterranean.” .

Shortly before Tajani’s decision was announced, the Center d’Orsay issued a statement stressing that the bilateral relationship “is based on mutual respect between our countries and our leaders.”

“In a spirit of solidarity, the French government wishes to work with Italy to address the common challenge of the rapid increase in migration flows,” added French diplomacy, in an indirect comment on Darmanen’s remarks.

“Mrs. Meloni, the far-right government (of Italy) chosen by the friends of Mrs. (Marine) Le Pen, is incapable of managing the immigration problems for which she was elected,” the French interior minister said earlier, when he the radio station was asked to comment on the statements of the president of the French far-right National Alarm (RN) party, Jordan Bardela, on the situation on the Franco-Italian border. “Yes, there is an influx of migrants and especially minors” in the south of France, he admitted, laying the blame on neighboring Italy. “The truth is that in Tunisia (…) the political situation pushes many children to go up to Italy and Italy is unable (…) to manage this immigration pressure (…) Meloni, like Le Pen, is elected claiming that she will she succeeds better than others and then we see that (immigration) does not stop and intensifies,” Darmanen continued, referring to the Italian prime minister who is facing, as he said, “a very serious immigration crisis.”

Last November, Franco-Italian relations went through a period of tension when the government of Georgia Meloni, who had just taken office, refused to allow the humanitarian organization SOS Méditerranée to dock. The ship was finally admitted, for the first time, to the port of Toulon in France. Paris had then convened a European summit requesting that this scenario not be repeated.

Since then, migrant arrivals to Europe via the Mediterranean have been increasing, notably via the new “migration corridor” from Tunisia. According to the Italian interior ministry, more than 36,000 people have arrived in Italy since the start of the year – compared to 9,000 arrivals in the first quarter of 2022.

In this context, French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne announced at the end of April that an “additional” 150 police and gendarmes will be deployed in the Alpes-Maritimes department, to “deal with the increased immigration pressure on the border with Italy” while a ” border force”.

“In Australia, this works very well,” Darmanen said today. “At the border, people’s identities are checked,” he added.