Deputy Premier and Interior
Minister Matteo Salvini said Tuesday that Italy had not accepted
Paris's apology after a French gendarmery police van was seen
dropping off two men in woods on Friday near the border at
Claviere - as Italian prosecutors said they were investigating a
second such incident.
The men are suspected of being migrants of African origin.
A French official said the incident was a "mistake" committed
by two officers who were new to the area.
"Abandoning immigrants in an Italian forest cannot be
considered a mistake or an incident," Salvini said.
"What happened in Claviere is an unprecedented offence
against our country and I wonder whether the international
organizations - starting with the UN and Europe - find it
'sickening' to leave people in an isolated area with no
assistance.
"We are faced with an international shame and Mr (Emmanuel)
Macron cannot pretend nothing has happened.
"We don't accept the apology".
Salvini later said Italy demanded that France give it "the
names of the migrants left in the woods".
The Elysee retorted, according to Le Figaro's website, that
Salvini was making political capital out of the incident, which
it said the local prefecture had acknowledged as "a mistake".
Meanwhile Turin prosecutors said they were investigating
another French foray to Claviere in August, when French officers
allegedly checked up on two Italians living there.
The Italians were checked by four armed men in camouflage
jackets who were "in all likelihood French", said Turin Chief
Prosecutor Armando Spataro.
The incident took lace on August 2 and was reported by
Carabinieri on August 20, he said.
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