Bigger European picture prompts France and Italy to end their spat

FOR THE FIRST TIME since the end of World War II, on Thursday, France recalled its ambassador to Italy after Luigi Di Maio, Italy's deputy prime minister and leader of the populist Five Star Movement, met with French yellow vest protesters. Beijing News comments:

Ties between France and Italy have become increasingly strained recently with France accusing Italy of making it the target of repeated, baseless attacks and outrageous statements, and manipulating the relationship for electoral aims.

But the differences between the two countries have been evident for a while. As early as June 2018, when the Italian government refused to accept a ship carrying 629 Libyan refugees, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, blamed the latter for not honoring its duty, while the Italian government fought back by saying France was being hypocritical.