Paris Hosts Italian Ambassador Following Salvini’s Remarks on Macron

Paris: Italy’s ambassador to Paris, Emanuela D’Alessandro, was received at the French foreign ministry last Thursday. This meeting followed comments made by Italy’s Deputy Premier and Transport Minister, Matteo Salvini, regarding French President Emmanuel Macron. French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Saturday that French officials allegedly reminded the ambassador that Salvini’s remarks “contradicted the Quirinale Treaty” between Italy and France.

According to Ansa News Agency, the Italian embassy confirmed a “meeting at the Quai d’Orsay,” which is the location of the French foreign ministry in Paris. However, the embassy emphasized that the ambassador had not been officially summoned by the French authorities.

Earlier this month, Salvini criticized French-led initiatives to establish a European army, potentially to be used in policing a future Ukraine peace deal. He expressed his opposition to the idea of an EU army led by what he described as a “mad” French President Emmanuel Macron.

Salvini’s comments followed Macron’s offer of France’s nuclear umbrella to protect the European Union against possible future threats from Russia, which Salvini dismissed as an idea never to be realized under Macron’s leadership.