The President of the European Commission says he "deeply regrets" comments he made that suggested that Italians in the south of the country were corrupt and lazy.

At a conference in Brussels on Thursday, Jean-Claude Juncker said Rome needed to stop blaming the EU for its economic problems and that "Italians have to take care of the poor regions of Italy. That means more work, less corruption, seriousness."

The remarks earned a furious response from Matteo Salvini, the head of the hard-Right League party, who will on Friday be sworn in as deputy prime minister and interior minister in Italy's new populist coalition.

On Friday, EU Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said that Mr Juncker's words had been interpreted in "a misleading way, because President Juncker loves Italy."

She listed recent initiatives Mr Juncker had taken which were advantageous to Italy, including his support to rebuild a medieval basilica in Norcia in Umbria, in the wake of a 2016 earthquake.

"There are words and there are facts and we prefer to focus on the facts, which in this case speak much louder than words," the spokeswoman said.

The row erupted between Brussels and the new coalition government before it was even sworn in.

As the new administration was in the process of being formed on Thursday, Mr Juncker was asked about the economic situation in Italy, which has the second highest debt per capita in the EU after Greece.