Salvini’s latest jab at Emmanuel Macron risks undoing recent Franco-Italian rapprochement, rekindling a history of clashes over migration and Europe.
The Italian ambassador to France has been summoned to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, lobbed a barbed remark at Emmanuel Macron, telling the French president to go to Ukraine himself if he was so keen on sending troops.
Speaking in Milan earlier this week, Salvini – Italy’s transport minister and long-time leader of the far-right Lega party – was asked about the idea of deploying Italian soldiers to Ukraine, a step France and the UK have floated once conditions allow. His answer was characteristically caustic.
“If you want to go, put on your helmet, your vest and take your gun, and head off to Ukraine,” he said, directly addressing Macron.
France’s foreign ministry confirmed that Ambassador Emanuela D’Alessandro was called in on 21 August and reminded that such remarks “run counter to the climate of trust and the historic relationship between our two countries, as well as recent bilateral progress, which has highlighted strong convergence between Paris and Rome, notably in their unwavering support for Ukraine.”
Macron and Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, have in fact presented a united front at recent high-level meetings, including a Washington summit with US president Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
Macron and Meloni mend fences with show of unity over Ukraine, migrant crises
Agent provocateur
This is not the first time Salvini has singled out Macron. Only in March, he branded the French leader “mad” for his determination to back Kyiv against Russia.
Such rhetoric is in keeping with Salvini’s long record as a political provocateur – from wearing Putin T-shirts in Moscow to courting controversy at home with inflammatory stances on immigration and Europe.
Relations between France and Italy have often been fractious, particularly on migration.
Paris has repeatedly criticised Rome for refusing to let NGO rescue ships dock with stranded migrants, while Italian leaders have accused France of hypocrisy over its own border controls.
Migrant rescue ship heads for Italy after judge overrides Salvini
In 2019, tensions ran so high that France briefly recalled its ambassador after Luigi Di Maio – then a fellow deputy prime minister – accused Paris of perpetuating poverty in Africa and fuelling migration.
Salvini himself has regularly used migrants as a political cudgel, railing against Brussels and berating France for “lecturing” Italy while shutting its own borders.
Despite the spat, Macron is continuing to coordinate with European allies – including the UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer – to shore up support for Kyiv once a ceasefire is in place.
