The presidents of France and Italy, Emmanuel Macron and Sergei Mattarella, respectively, have reaffirmed on Monday the «great importance» of their bilateral relations and have bet on achieving the conditions for a «full cooperation in all fields», following the tensions of recent days between Paris and Rome on migration issues.
The leaders held a telephone conversation earlier in the day in which they stressed that this «total» cooperation must take place «both bilaterally and within the European Union (EU)», according to a statement issued by the Elysee and the Quirinale.
The conversation has taken place days after France announced the suspension of a plan to welcome 3,500 refugees arriving in Italy after the transalpine country refused to allow the docking of the SOS Mediterranée ship ‘Ocean Viking’, with more than 200 migrants on board and which finally docked on Friday in the Gallic port of Toulon.
In response, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, was «very surprised» by the «aggressive reaction» of the French government and stressed that «it is not written» in any agreement «that Italy has to be the only port of disembarkation». «When there is talk of retaliation in an EU dynamic, something is not working,» she lamented.
