French President Emmanuel Macron urges Italian PM Giorgia Meloni to refrain from commenting on France’s affairs after her remarks on a fatal activist beating.
NEW DELHI: President Emmanuel Macron has called on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to stop commenting on other nations’ internal affairs.
Macron’s remarks came after Meloni expressed shock at the fatal beating of a far-right activist in France last week.
“Let everyone stay in their own lane,” Macron stated on the sidelines of an official visit to India.
He was responding to Meloni’s description of the killing of 23-year-old Quentin Deranque as “a wound for all of Europe.”
Deranque died from head injuries after being attacked by at least six people on the sidelines of a far-right protest at a university in Lyon.
Most of the 11 suspects detained are from far-left movements, according to a source close to the investigation.
The killing has fuelled political tensions in France ahead of municipal elections in March and the 2027 presidential race.
Macron also asserted there was no place in France for movements that legitimise violence.
“Nothing can justify violent action — neither on one side nor the other, and not even in a head-to-head confrontation that is deadly for the republic,” he said.
A member of the French president’s team said Macron is “concerned about the situation, which he is closely monitoring.”
“We must avoid any spiral of violence,” they added.
Eleven people were taken into custody as part of the investigation into intentional homicide.
Among them are two parliamentary assistants to Raphael Arnault, a member of parliament from the hard-left France Unbowed party, as well as a former intern.
A lawyer for Deranque’s parents said they called “for calm and restraint.”
“The family condemns any call for violence. Any form of political violence,” Fabien Rajon told broadcaster RTL.
On Wednesday, Jordan Bardella, head of the far-right National Rally, accused Macron and former prime ministers of boosting the hard-left.