00:00We're going to turn to some news here in France, the fatal beating of a far-right activist.
00:03The case has become a subject of a spat between President Macron and the Italian Prime Minister
00:08Giorgia Maloney. Maloney, who is part of Italy's far-right, expressed shock at the young man's
00:13death, prompting Macron to call on her to stop commenting on what's happening in other people's
00:19countries. Here's Macron speaking earlier. I'm always struck by the fact that people who
00:26are nationalists, who don't want anyone bothering them at home, are always the first to comment
00:30on what's happening elsewhere. If everyone just stayed in their own yard, the flock would
00:34look after itself.
00:37We can cross now to our correspondent and Rome, Seema Gupta. Seema, how did this spat between
00:42Macron and Maloney unfold today, and has there been any fallout?
00:48Well, what has actually happened is that we know that Giorgia Maloney, the right-wing Prime
00:54Minister here in Italy, took to social media on Wednesday. And in her comments, she referred
01:00to the death of this young man in his 20s, attacked by groups linked to left-wing extremism
01:07and overwhelmed by a climate of ideological hatred that is sweeping across several nations,
01:12is a wound to the whole of Europe. So she referred to this attack as being a wound to the
01:19entire
01:19continent. And she added that no political idea can justify violence. And then we saw
01:26the French president, of course, making those statements, as we saw earlier, and essentially
01:31saying that she should stop commenting on French affairs. Now, we understand from media reports
01:37that sources at the Prime Minister's office here in Rome have expressed astonishment at the
01:44French president's reaction. They say the statement made by Prime Minister Maloney was meant to show
01:50solidarity with the French people that are affected by this event, and that in no way has any bearing
01:57whatsoever on France's internal affairs. Now, one has to remember that there have been differences in
02:04the past between President Macron and Prime Minister Maloney on several issues, including immigration.
02:11And this just adds to that spat, if you like. We've also heard from Italy's foreign minister,
02:18who's part of the right-wing coalition in government right now, Antonio Tayani. He also
02:24taking to social media, saying that the killing of this man in a university context is a real serious
02:33fact and should be of concern to everyone. He said that it's an episode that should be condemned
02:38without hesitation. And he reminded people that there were events like this, similar events like
02:44this in the past here in Italy, and that it was some of the darkest periods for Italy. And so
02:50the idea
02:51to condemn such episodes is also to ensure that there's no return to what he referred to as a bad
02:57past in Italy as well. So clearly, reaction here from the right-wing government expressing shock
03:04shock to the response by the French president. Okay, Seema Gupta, our correspondent of Rome. Seema,
03:10thanks for that update.
Comments