behind Gérald Darmanin’s attacks on Giorgia Meloni, a strategy to counter Marine Le Pen

A diplomatic and political attack. Guest of RMC, Thursday May 4, Gérald Darmanin accused the President of the Italian Council Giorgia Meloni of being “unable to resolve migration issues” in his country. The Minister of the Interior accuses Rome in particular of being responsible for the“influx of migrants and especially minors” in the south of France. According to him, the far-right leader who came to power in October is facing “a very serious migration crisis”.

In response, the head of Italian diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, canceled his visit to Paris, where he was to meet his counterpart, Catherine Colonna. “It’s a gratuitous and vulgar insult addressed to a friendly, allied country” and “when someone gratuitously offends another person, the minimum is that they apologize”chained the former President of the European Parliament on Friday in a daily interview Il Corriere della Sera. France tried to calm things down, the Quai d’Orsay “Hoping” that Antonio Tajani’s visit would be “quickly rescheduled”.

Immigration, an eternal subject of tension

Immigration is a hot topic in relations between the two countries. Tensions arose in November, when the newly formed Meloni government refused to allow a humanitarian ship from the NGO SOS Méditerranée to dock. The boat ended up being welcomed by France in Toulon with more than 200 migrants on board. The crisis ofocean viking first concerned “internal balances” of the Italian coalition government, analyzed at the time Gilles Gressani, director of the journal The Great Continentconsidering that the Northern League (extreme right) of Matteo Salvini wanted “survive hegemonic temptations” of Fratelli d’Italia, the party of Giorgia Meloni, and “give signs to his electorate”. The episode had nevertheless aroused the anger of Paris, which had called a European meeting so that this scenario did not happen again.

Since then, clandestine boat crossings have increased with the development of a new maritime corridor between Tunisia and Italy. According to the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 42,000 people have arrived via the Mediterranean in Italy this year, compared to around 11,000 over the same period in 2022.

Attempts to cross overlandthrough the Alps” are also on the rise, reported on franceinfo Didier Leschi, director general of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII). Migrants arriving in Italy, often of Ivorian, Guinean or Malian nationality, are more inclined to want to settle in Italy or France, where their communities are already present, explains the director. “That’s why the tensions between the two countries are high.”

“Nearly half of the nationalities arriving in Italy are nationalities that have a relationship with the historical French-speaking area of ​​Sub-Saharans.”

Didier Leschi, director of the OFII

at franceinfo

In this context, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, announced at the end of April the mobilization of 150 police officers and gendarmes “additional” to do “in the face of increased migratory pressure at the Italian border” as well as the creation of a “border strength”a force at the frontiers.

Marine Le Pen strengthened by the pension crisis

However, beyond the migration issue, through his attacks against Giorgia Meloni, Gérald Darmanin cited the leader of the far right … in France. “Madam Meloni is like Madame Le Pen, she got elected on ‘You will see what you will see’ and then what we see is that this don’t stop and let it get bigger”, said the Minister of the Interior, speaking of immigration. Two days earlier, on BFMTV, the minister was already criticizing the RN, “the lazy party”, and had described Marine Le Pen as “little politician”. Gérald Darmanin is not his first criticism of the finalist in the last presidential election. In February 2021 already, during a debate on France 2, he told her to find her “a little soft” on issues of secularism.

These attacks come in a context of mobilizations against the pension reform, where the executive has been crystallizing criticism for months. However, the head of the RN deputies, often remained silent on the subject, has made progress in the opinion polls. According to an Ifop pollParis Match of April 5, 52% of those polled considered her to be competent (i.e. +6 points in two months) and 51% capable of reforming the country (+8 points).

The government and relatives of the majority have also given their support to Gérald Darmanin, in turn tackling the far right. On franceinfo, Macronist MEP Nathalie Loiseau estimated that Gérald Darmanin “pressed where it hurts” And that the far-right promises on immigration were a “lure”.

“The far right is lying to its voters when it promises that all you have to do is vote for it to solve the problem. It’s not true.”

Nathalie Loiseau, Renew MEP

at franceinfo

Transport Minister Clément Beaune gave “political reason” to Gérald Darmanin who recalled “what is the extreme right everywhere, in Italy as elsewhere, which makes many promises and solves few problems”.

But the parallel between Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni has its limits. The RN MP, whose historic transalpine ally remains Matteo Salvini, has already distanced herself from the head of the Italian executive. “She is very FN of the 1980s. Conservative, liberal, Atlanticist”, she said in the fall, according to The Parisianadding that the Roman politician was closer to Eric Zemmour. “Meloni is not my twin sister”, she said in an interview with La Repubblica (article in Italian for subscribers) At the beginning of April.

For its part, the RN castigated the words of Gérald Darmanin and supported Italy. “With Gérald Darmanin as Minister of the Interior, France beats all immigration records. A record that disqualifies him from giving the slightest lesson in firmness to our Italian neighbors, who pay for the call for air he itself created in Europe”tweeted Thursday the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella.