Before this week, the last time that France recalled its ambassador from Italy was in June 1940, when Benito Mussolini’s fascist government declared war on France and Britain. On Thursday, however, the same thing happened again, when ambassador Christian Masset was instructed to leave the Palazzo Farnese, the stunningly beautiful embassy building in which part of Puccini’s opera Tosca is set, to return to Paris for “consultations”.
Although the conflict between France and Italy is only a war of words this time, it is not an operatic spectacle. This is a serious political event, and its symbolism is potent. For two of the European Union’s foundation members to fall out in this way is astonishing after nearly 75 years of western European peace. It is a mark of the degree to which Italy’s far-right and anti-establishment coalition government is prepared to flout the European orthodoxy of the postwar period. The threatening implications for the EU can hardly be disputed.
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WRAkZ6
