📰*Italy demands apology for France's 'hypocritical' criticism on migrants*

Italy on Wednesday summoned the French ambassador and postponed planned finance talks, in an escalating diplomatic spat with France over the handling of a migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.
The Italian government considers France's criticism of its decision to refuse entry to a boat carrying more than 600 people rescued at sea "unacceptable", Foreign Affairs Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi stated.

The migrants saved by the Aquarius, run by French NGO SOS Méditerranée, were stuck on the overloaded ship for over 30 hours as Italy and Malta bickered over who should take them, before Spain stepped in and offered the port in Valencia as a place for the migrants to land in Europe. The accusation is "compromising relations between Italy and France", Milanesi said after summoning French ambassador Christian Masset for a meeting on Wednesday morning.

French President Emmanuel Macron is due to receive Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday, though the meeting has been jeopardized by the ongoing war of words. Meanwhile Finance Minister Giovanni Tria announced that he would cancel an official visit to Paris, though his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire later said the two had agreed to reschedule their talks.