Chancellor Gerhard Schröder delivered a clear snub to Italy yesterday by cancelling his summer holiday there, pushing diplomatic relations between Berlin and Rome to a new low. Derek Scally reports from Berlin
After two anti-German jibes from Italian politicians in the space of a week, a government spokesman said yesterday that Mr Schröder will stay at home with his family in Hanover.
"Everything has its limits," Mr Schröder reportedly told the friends he was due to stay with in Italy.
Mr Béla Anda, his spokesman, said: "Chancellor Schröder doesn't want to burden his family with further speculation about the little holiday time they have."
The diplomatic row between Berlin and Rome began last week when the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, likened a German MEP to a concentration camp guard.
The second insult came when Mr Stefano Stefani, a junior tourism minister, described German tourists as "stereotype blondes with a hyper-nationalist pride who have always been indoctrinated to be first in the class".
Mr Berlusconi called Mr Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, on Tuesday to express regret for his remarks. At the same time, however, Mr Stefani called a press conference to defend his depiction of Germany in a newspaper article as a "country intoxicated with arrogant certainty".
Mr Martin Schulz, the German MEP insulted by Mr Berlusconi last week, said: "In any other European country, a man like [Mr Stefani] would have been kicked out of the government within five minutes. That this hasn't happened in Rome gives me a lot to think about."
Two German government ministers have demanded Mr Stefani's resignation and an official apology from Rome.
Mr Otto Schily, the interior minister, dismissed Mr Stefani as a "foolish" man who was "unsuitable in every way" for his job as junior tourism minister.
News that Mr Schröder will be staying in Germany this year was greeted by German tourist chiefs as a welcome shot in the arm for the domestic tourist industry.
One tourist boss in the Mosel region urged Mr Schröder: "Come to us and try a Riesling instead of a Chianti."
