French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin continued on Wednesday his attacks on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whom he accused of being incapable of managing the problems of immigrants in Italy.
“When we make reckless promises, when we are members of the extreme right – Mrs. Meloni is not really a progressive leftist – we end up realizing that the reality is harsher,” the French minister told France Inter radio.
Gérald Darmanin said that his “attack is not against the Italians (…), but against political figures”.
“We have the right to say that you [Marine] Le Pen – leader of the far-right National Regrouping party – and Ms. Meloni do not have the role model “in relation to the management of migratory flows, added the French minister.
In early May, Darmanin sparked a diplomatic crisis between France and Italy by claiming that Giorgia Meloni was “incapable of solving the immigration problems for which she was elected.”
The head of Italian diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, canceled his visit to Paris, scheduled for the same day, in the absence of an apology from the French minister.
Gérald Darmanin pointed out that the Italian prime minister had already “insulted the President of the Republic” of France, Emmanuel Macron.
Arguing that the immigration issue is “difficult” to resolve, he said that in this area “extreme right-wing solutions do not work.”
The French minister also said that there was an 18% increase in expulsions compared to last year, while the right, in particular, blames him for the lack of results in managing migration flows.
Source: TSF
