France’s Macron calls for reconciliation with Italy after diplomatic spat

The French president has launched a call for reconciliation with Italy following a diplomatic spat that saw Paris briefly recall its ambassador. “There has been intemperate talk. There have been various twists and turns and I think we owe it to our people, to our history and to Europe, to get past that,” Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday on Italian television. Macron will host his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella at Amboise, central France, on May 2 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci “with French and Italian youth.” In Italy, the interview provoked controversy before its release as Macron chose to be interviewed by Fabio Fazio, a nemesis of Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and nationalists, AFP reports.