MOSCOW, December 9 (Sputnik) - French Finance Minister Michel Sapin has criticized the statement of the French “Left Front” leader, in which he verbally assaulted German Chancellor Angela Merkel and asked her “to shut up”, according to Le Monde.
The statement followed Angela Merkel’s appeal to Italy and France, in which she asked both countries to take more efforts to bring their budgets inline with EU provisions, Reuters reported on Sunday. Her speech caused irritation and dissatisfaction among Italian and French officials, who recommended German Chancellor to focus on her country’s domestic issues and not intervene into affairs of other EU states.
"The Italian government has never permitted itself to hand out marks to a European Union member country and we ask Germany for the same respect," Italian undersecretary for EU affairs, Sandro Gozi, said in a statement, published by Reuters.
The toughest reaction, however, came from the leader of the French “Left Front” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who wrote in his twitter "Shut your trap, Ms. Merkel! France is free."
Maul zu, Frau #Merkel ! Frankreich ist frei. Occupez-vous de vos pauvres et de vos équipements en ruines !
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) 7 декабря 2014
Michel Sapin called Mélenchon’s words “rude, insulting and stupid” and said that Germany’s concerns about delayed financial reforms in a number of EU members are understandable, as countries promise to carry out necessary transformations and then don’t stick to their obligations.
“Germany is in a better position now because of the reforms it did a decade ago," Sapin said, cited by Reuters. According to him, the budget deficit of France will be reduced to 4.1% in 2015, in comparison to a previous target of 4,4% thanks to additional savings, which France announced last week, Reuters reports.
