How the relationship between France and Italy reached its breaking point

When we think of frosty diplomatic relations between states, members of the European Union don’t typically come to mind. And yet the word ‘frosty’ is exactly what the relationship between Italy and France has become. In fact, ‘frosty’ may too tepid of a description.

The Italians can be stubborn people. But so can the French. And for the first time many Europeans can remember, the stubbornness is compounded by two governments in Rome and Paris that are at each other’s throats on some of the biggest issues of the day. On one side is Italian deputy prime ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, two fierce nationalists who consider the French government to be a collection of anti-Italian snobs. On the other side is French President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist politician who is as exacerbated as he is angry with the populist crop of Italian leaders he has to interact with on a weekly basis.