French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech after a mass to pay tribute to French priest Father Jacques Hamel one year after he was killed by Islamist militants in an attack in the church, in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen, France, July 26, 2017. REUTERS/Charly Triballeau/Pool

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni received a “friendly” phone call on Thursday from French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the STX France shipyard, Libya and immigration, Gentiloni’s office said.

Relations between the two EU allies has been strained this month by a number of issues, including France’s decision to block a bid by Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri to buy a controlling stake in STX France.

Rome has also felt slighted by France’s diplomatic moves in Libya and annoyed by Macron’s refusal to take in migrants who have poured across the Mediterranean into Italy in recent years.