(Bloomberg) -- France recalled its ambassador to Italy, citing repeated “meddling” in its domestic affairs and “unacceptable” provocations, as relations between the two neighbors sunk to a new post-war low.

“This is unprecedented since the war,” the Paris-based foreign ministry said in an emailed statement on Thursday. “Having disagreements is one thing, but using the relationship for electoral purposes is quite another.” European parliamentary elections are scheduled for May.

While the statement didn’t mention specific incidents, it follows Tuesday’s meeting near Paris between Italian Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio and a senior figure of the Yellow Vests movement in France. Di Maio took the opportunity to thumb his nose at the government in Paris while trumpeting support for the grassroots protests against President Emmanuel Macron.

Paris and Rome have been snarling at each other since a populist coalition took power in Italy last year, with budget spending and immigration the main bones of contention.

“The latest interference constitutes a supplemental and unacceptable provocation,” the French statement said. “The European election campaign can’t justify a lack of respect for each people and its democracy.”

The big question is whether the spat will have any longer-term repercussions. The two countries have periodically argued about commercial issues including shipbuilder Fincantieri’s proposed takeover of France’s STX and a past Italian government’s contention that landline assets constitute a strategic asset. A $10 billion rail project to link the two countries is under threat over Five Star opposition to the plan.

France’s response appeared to catch Italy by surprise.

Unexpected Move

A senior official at the Italian Foreign Ministry, who declined to be named discussing a sensitive issue, said the French decision to recall the ambassador was completely unexpected. The official said he assumes the move was because of Di Maio’s meeting with the Yellow Vests.

Salvini is available to meet with Macron to address immigration, terrorism and state border control, the League leader, who also serves as interior minister, said in a statement Thursday. “We are ready and available with a constructive spirit to turn the page for the good of our people,” Salvini said.

“This is the worst crisis between the two countries since 1945 and I’m not surprised we’ve reached this step,” said Marc Lazar, a professor at Paris’ Sciences Po institute. “The French want to say this has to stop, but it does risk elevating Di Maio’s status.”

‘Nervous’

Di Maio fired yet another broadside at Macron earlier Thursday, saying, “all the demands of the Yellow Vests are in the government contract” drawn up by his Five Star Movement and coalition partner the League.

“Macron is nervous, the country is slipping away from him,” the Italian deputy premier said on Rai television.

“I claim the right to be able to dialogue with all the European political forces -- we want to create a group in Europe which is neither of the right nor of the left,” Di Maio said. The European Union parliament holds elections in May.

France summoned Italy’s ambassador to Paris Jan. 21, after Di Maio claimed that French “neo-colonial policies” were keeping Africa poor and contributing to the flow of migration into Europe.

New Coalition

Italy’s elections last March swept away a center-left government whose prime minister was close to Macron, replacing it with an awkward coalition of Di Maio’s eclectic Five Star and the anti-immigration Northern League. The two parties share an ambivalent attitude -- at best -- toward the EU.

Relations with Italy’s new government got off to a bad start when Macron criticized the decision of Interior Minister Mattteo Salvini to block a humanitarian ship from unloading migrants at an Italian port, while refusing to allow the ship to dock in France. Salvini called Macron a hypocrite; Macron referred to Italy’s populists as lepers.

Salvini and Macron have kept up their attacks on each other, with each seeing himself as the leader of a different coalition in the coming May elections. Macron is pushing for greater European integration while Salvini favors returning more powers to national capitals.

Salvini also recently accused France of sheltering Italian left-wing terrorists from the 1970’s.

The interior minister and League chief has been rising in the Italian polls largely because of his success in stemming immigration, while Di Maio has been sliding in surveys, as many of his supporters feel he’s been outmaneuvered by Salvini.

“Di Maio feels that he has to show that he has no lessons to learn from Salvini, that he too is a leader of a party with allies across Europe,” Lazar said.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.