Italy's Interior Minister and Deputy PM Matteo Salvini speaks during an Italian talk show on Rai 1 in June 2018, with an image of French President Emmanuel Macron in the background | Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images France recalls ambassador to Italy over Rome’s ‘repeated attacks’ Paris says such attacks have not been seen since World War II.

France recalled its ambassador in Rome after what Paris described as “repeated, baseless attacks” from the ruling Italian parties.

“France has been, for several months, the target of repeated, baseless attacks and outrageous statements,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday.

The ministry added that such attacks are "unprecedented" since World War II.

“Having disagreements is one thing, but manipulating the relationship for electoral aims is another,” the statement said.

The leaders of Italy’s ruling populist parties, the League’s Matteo Salvini and the 5Star Movement’s Luigi Di Maio, have targeted French President Emmanuel Macron on a range of issues, such as migration. Di Maio earlier this week met leaders of the largely anti-Macron Yellow Jackets protest movement in Paris, and the two sides agreed to touch base again in Rome.

“All of these actions are creating a serious situation which is raising questions about the Italian government’s intentions towards France.”

Salvini said in response that he was ready to have talks with Macron about three issues in particular: migrants at the Italian-French border, Italian terrorists “living freely” in France, and Italian commuters who he claimed “are hit every day with French border checks that last hours.”

"We don't want to row with anyone and we are not interested in controversies," he said, according to Italian news agency Ansa. "We are practical people and we defend the interests of the Italian people.”