New Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has caused a bitter diplomatic row with France over her refusal to allow the disembarkation of 234 migrants on board the Ocean Viking rescue vessel.
On Friday, the ship was allowed to disembark in Toulon after the intervention of the French Government, which also provoked a bitter war of words between senior French and Italian ministers.
Meloni’s eagerness to turn the reception of 234 migrants into a political issue has created the first international row of her leadership of Italy as Prime Minister.
The row is over the Italian Government's refusal to allow the disembarkation of the Ocean Viking rescue ship in its ports this week, which led the French government to step in to offer a safe port.
The intervention has caused a severe chasm between Rome and Paris, with relations having swiftly soured. France's Secretary of State for EU Affairs, Laurence Bonne, further raised tensions after the incident by stating that “trust has been broken with Italy.”
Meloni's diplomatic inexperience
At the centre of the dispute, is reportedly the lack of direct communication made by Meloni’s government with the Elysée on the issue.
Reports suggest that Meloni’s government, instead of opening diplomatic communication with France, preferred to instead make public statements based on initial – yet at the time unconfirmed – press reports that Paris would be stepping in to allow the disembarkation of the Ocean Viking vessel.
A public statement by the Italian government was particularly badly received by the Elysée, who was worried France would be perceived as being complicit in Italy’s migration policy. The Meloni government noted how “France's decision to share responsibility for the migratory emergency, which until now has remained on Italy's shoulders.”
Meloni confirmed in a press conference that during the incident there had not been any communication between the two EU Member States. She also responded by calling France’s reaction “incomprehensible and unjustified,” also blaming the situation on a “misunderstanding.”
War of words
The French Interior Minister responded by calling the Italian Government’s behaviour “inhumane.” Italy, meanwhile, is accusing France of pushing back migrants at the Alpine border after reports of a reinforced French police deployment with extra checks, which has caused longer queues for those travelling.
Meloni has not backed down from her government’s position, seemingly unfazed by a diplomatic row so early on in her leadership. "What is it that makes you angry? That Italy must be the only possible port of disembarkation in the Mediterranean?”
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She also claimed that Italy has accepted 90,000 migrants, and that “only 117 have been relocated to other countries.”
This was disputed by the German Ambassador in Rome Viktor Ebling on Twitter, who produced a different set of figures. "Italy does a lot in terms of migration but it is not alone: there were 154,385 asylum seekers in Germany between January and September 2022, 110,055 in France, 48,935 in Italy."
In response to the crisis, the European Union has stated that it will hold an extraordinary summit between interior ministers in December. 'We cannot afford quarrels between states,” said the vice-president of the EU Commission, Margaritis Schinas.
