France’s ambassador to Italy will return to Rome on Friday, according to the French European affairs minister. The envoy was recalled by Paris on February 7 in response to a series of critical comments directed at France by Italian politicians. This is the first withdrawal of a French envoy to Rome since World War II. “He returns to Rome today,” Minister Nathalie Loiseau told RTL radio on Friday. Ties between the two close allies have grown increasingly tense since mid-2018, with Italy’s Deputy Prime Ministers Luigi di Maio and Matteo Salvini criticizing French President Emmanuel Macron and his government, mostly over migration policy.