The pulse that for days have fought Rome and Paris by immigration from Africa has finally provoked the intervention of Sergio Mattarella. The old italian president and that of France, Emmanuel Macron, held this Monday a conversation phone which, in practice, is the first sign of strain between the two countries since their confrontation last week over the Ocean Viking, a boat carrying migrants from the NGO Sos Meditérranée to which Paris assigned a port of disembarkation, after Italy repeatedly refused to do so. Something that, in turn, prompted the immediate announcement by France of retaliation against the Government of Giorgia Meloni.
According to the statement released by both the Elysee and the Italian presidency, during their dialogue, Mattarella y Macron have reaffirmed “the great importance” of bilateral relations between France and Italy, two founding countries of the European Union (EU). In addition, the two leaders have also agreed on “the need” for “full collaboration in all fields.” What needs to happen “both bilaterally and within the EU”, they have underlined.
A diplomatic maneuver, this, that betrays the intention of Mattarella, a man of dialogue and subtle in his way of exercising a position that does not usually involve him in the day-to-day of transalpine politics, of open a truce in the clash between Italy and France. Even more so, bearing in mind that what is at stake in the immediate future is not only European immigration policies, but also the stability of the European bloc and a series of trade agreements involving large companies from both countries.
Without the signature of Spain
The unknown is whether that wish will be fulfilled, after neither Rome nor Paris sent signs of relaxation during this past weekend. On the contrary, France has continued these days to insist in its position and harshly criticize the behavior of the Italian government – currently made up of a coalition made up of two extreme right-wing parties, the League of Matteo Salviniand Brothers of Italy of Meloni -, while the French authorities have also complied with one of the threats made to Italy in recent days: the reinforcement of controls at its land border with the transalpine country.
In parallel, Rome released a joint letter from the interior ministers of Italia, Malta and Cyprustogether with the Minister of Migration of Greece, in which they did not spare criticism of the NGOs. “We reiterate our position about the fact that the way these private vessels act does not conform to the spirit of the international legal framework on search and rescue operations. Each State must effectively exercise jurisdiction and control over vessels flying its own flag,” they wrote in the letter, that Spain did not sign, despite being one of the largest recipients of migrants in the Mediterranean.
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“With full respect for the competences of the coastal States in accordance with international law we believe that a debate is urgent and necessary serious about how to better coordinate these operations in the Mediterranean”, added the four countries. The objective is to ensure “that all private ships respect international conventions and other applicable regulations”, they continued, in a message that also coincided with a gesture of irritation on the part of German diplomacy.
This was demonstrated by the words of the German ambassador to Italy, Viktor Ebling, who stressed that NGOs “deserve our gratitude and support.” The reason is that “they save lives”, considered the German diplomat, after even the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, demanded that the European Commission “a code of conduct for NGOs”.