Italian FM cancels trip in fresh migrant spat with Paris

ROME: Italy´s foreign minister cancelled a trip to Paris on Thursday after a French minister criticised Rome´s migration policy, in a fresh spat over the contentious issue between the two nations.

In a radio interview in Paris on Thursday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin had said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “is incapable of resolving the migration problems” faced by her country.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani slammed Darmanin´s “unacceptable” remarks and cancelled a planned trip to Paris. “This is not the spirit in which common European challenges should be faced”, he said.

Paris later sought to ease the tensions, saying it hoped that Tajani´s meeting with French counterpart Catherine Colonna scheduled for Thursday evening could be rescheduled “soon”.