Who needs the Comédie-Française when there is Emmanuel Macron in the Élysée? France’s recall last week of its ambassador from Italy for consultation was pure theatre on the part of the president. And it was a decision more for the benefit of his domestic audience than for the coalition government in Rome.
In a statement explaining why Christian Masset had been ordered home, the foreign office said that for several months France has been subjected to outrageous statements that have created a ‘serious situation which is raising questions about the Italian government’s intentions towards France.’
France blamed the recall on Luigi Di Maio, the Italian deputy prime minster, who flew to Paris last week to meet members of the Yellow Vest protest movement. After the meeting, the leader of the anti-system Five Star Movement uploaded a photograph of the meeting on to social media and declared that ‘the wind of change has crossed the Alps’.
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