The Strategist

Di Maio: Ultra-liberal state policy provoked protests in France



02/11/2019 - 11:18



Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio explained the reasons for meeting with representatives of the "yellow vests" in France, stating that, in his opinion, the future of Europe is connected with the ideas voiced by the protest movement.



Revolweb
Revolweb
Against the background of the diplomatic scandal between France and Italy, which occurred after the meeting of Di Maio with representatives of the "yellow vests", Le Monde published a letter from the Minister of Economic Development, Labor and Social Policy of Italy. The Vice Prime Minister of Italy noted that the Italian authorities consider France to be a "friendly country", despite political differences.

Di Maio said that he visited the lower house of the French parliament in 2016, when the country began to protest against labor reform, which the government of former President François Hollande commenced.

According to the Italian politician, discontent in France concerns "not only the current government". Deterioration in the lives of French citizens and decline in their purchasing power occurred because of the "ultra-liberal course" that has recently been pursued by both French and French parties.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Italy stressed that he wanted to meet with representatives of the "yellow vests" because he "does not believe that the future of European politics depends on the right or left parties, as well as the parties that call themselves "new", but in fact are traditional" . According to him, among the requirements of the "yellow vests" there are ideas that go beyond the ideology of the left or right parties, placing the main focus on "the citizen and his needs."

The Vice Prime Minister of Italy met with representatives of the "yellow vests" Christophe Chalenson and Ingrid Levavasseur, who heads the list of candidates from the movement in the European Parliament elections. February 5, he posted a photo of this meeting on his page on the social network Twitter.

After that, the French Foreign Ministry protested to the Italian authorities, calling the meeting a "provocation". The French Ambassador to Italy was recalled.

source: lemonde.fr