Italian foreign minister cancels trip to France over spat on migration

By Giovanni Legorano

ROME (AA) — Italy's foreign minister on Thursday canceled a trip to Paris, after a member of the French government criticized Rome's management of the ongoing migration crisis.

French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin's "offenses to the (Italian) government and to Italy are unacceptable," Antonio Tajani said on Twitter, announcing that he would not be meeting with his counterpart Catherine Colonna on Wednesday.

"This isn't the spirit with which we should face common European challenges," Tajani said.

The move follows comments by Darmanin, in an interview with French broadcaster TV RMC, that Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her government were "incapable of solving the migration problem for which they have been elected."

Italy has faced increasing seaborne arrivals of migrants making their way across the Mediterranean Sea on boats from Tunisia and Libya.

Many of those migrants, after being rescued and brought to Italian soil either by authorities or boats run by charities, then try to move towards northern Europe, including France.

Darmanin said there was a flow of migrants towards southern France, in particular of unaccompanied minors, accusing Italy of being unable to manage the migration pressures.