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Italy, France 'to heal diplomatic rift at Six Nations rugby match'

13 marzo 2019 | 14.45
LETTURA: 2 minuti

Giovanni Tria - FOTOGRAMMA
Giovanni Tria - FOTOGRAMMA

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire has accepted an invitation from his Italian countepart Giovanni Tria to attend a Six Nations rugby match in Rome on Saturday, Adnkronos has learned. The move comes as the two countries seek to mend fences after the worst diplomatic spat between France and Italy since World War II.

Tria's invite to Le Maire - allegedly suggested by Tria's advisor and former rugby player Mauro Nori, who has close ties to the Italy's national rugby federation - came after Tria attended a recent bilateral business meeting in Versailles, sources told Adnkronos.

France's envoy Christian Masset returned to Rome last month after he was recalled to Paris for consultations on 7 February, a stand-off French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said was promoted by months of “unfounded attacks” from Italy's industry and welfare minister Luigi Di Maio and interior minister Matteo Salvini, who have heavily criticised President Emmanuel Macron’s economic and migration policies.

The trigger for the diplomatic row appeared to be Di Maio’s meeting in a Paris suburb in early February with members of the 'yellow vest' protest movement who are fielding candidates for the European Parliament elections in May, a visit that Griveaux said violated “the most elementary diplomacy” because it was unannounced.

Relations between France and Italy have also been strained by a delayed multi-billion high-speed rail link connecting Turin to Lyon, a European Union anti-trust probe into Italian defence and aerospace giant Finmeccanica's bid to acquire the Saint-Nazaire shipyard in western France, and even celebrations this year to mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death.

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