- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, Jul 2 - France accused Italy on Tuesday of acting hysterically over immigration and failing to live up to its duties, triggering a fresh war of words between the increasingly acrimonious European neighbors.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Paris and Rome have repeatedly clashed over the past year on immigration as the Italian government looks to stop charity rescue ships from picking up would-be asylum seekers in the Mediterranean sea and bringing them to Italy.
"I think that basically the Italian government has not been up to the task," spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye told France's BFM-TV, taking particular aim at Italy's interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who has recently approved new anti-immigrant measures.
"Mr. Matteo Salvini's behavior has not been acceptable as far as I am concerned," she said, accusing him of creating a "hysterical" atmosphere over immigration. "This is a painful subject, a complex subject which the EU and France have previously been in solidarity with Italy over," she added.
Salvini, who heads the far-right League party, the country's largest political force, hit back.
"My behavior regarding immigration is unacceptable? The French government should stop with these insults and open its ports (to migrants)," Salvini said in a statement.
"Italians have already received too many (migrants) and spent too much. The next boats? They should head to Marseilles," he said, referring to the southern French port city.
The latest blow-up centers on moves by Salvini to make it even harder for non-government rescue vessels from docking in Italy, which led to a Dutch-flagged ship carrying some 41 Africans being kept at sea for more than two weeks.
The boat eventually disobeyed orders and docked, but the German captain now faces criminal charges.
France briefly recalled its ambassador from Rome in February to protest against what it described as "repeated, baseless" attacks by Italian political leaders on Paris.
Source: Reuters
Your Comment