The murder of 23-year-old French nationalist Kantin Deoranc in Lyon has unexpectedly caused high tensions between Italy and France, after last week during an EU summit European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni, came to the conclusion that the fewer divisions there are in the Euroblock, the more competitive it will be in all areas, noted Italian media, including ANSA, “Sky TG24“ and “RAI News“ and French media, including Agence France-Presse, “France 24“ and BFM TV, writes BTA.
Déorank's death occurred in a hospital in Lyon on February 14 as a result of injuries received two days earlier in a beating in the area of a conference organized by the radical left French MEP Rima Hassan. Rima Hassan's conference was held at the Institute for Political Studies in Lyon. In response to it, the feminist and nationalist organization “Nemesis“ decided to organize a counter-demonstration called a happening. Representatives of nationalist circles and the far right from Lyon participated in it. Kanten Déorank was part of the youth who guarded participants in this happening. At some point, an argument broke out between the participants in the happening and representatives of the radical left. Cantin was isolated from the group he was with, surrounded by several masked men who began to hit and kick him in the head.
11 people were arrested in the case, including two parliamentary assistants and another close associate of the MP from the French radical left party “France Insubordinate“ Raphael Arnault. The prosecutor's office requested that charges be brought against 7 of them, and 4 were released. Last night, two of the 7 remaining in custody were charged with premeditated murder, and one of Arnault's assistants - with complicity. Most of those detained for Cantin's murder are linked to ultra-left movements, the police explained. Raphael Arnault is the founder of the "Young Anti-Fascist Guard" group, which was dissolved by decree in June 2025, in particular due to acts of violence, recalls Agence France-Presse.
All this has provoked condemnatory reactions from representatives of various political circles in France.
Quentin Durank has been described as a nationalist, a supporter of the ideas of French identity, as a zealous Catholic and even as an ultra-right or neo-fascist. His friends describe him as a young man who defended his ideas through debates, not through physical combat, summarize "Figaro", "Croix" and "Mediapar". Quentin is said to be a founder or participant in local nationalist movements. His mother is Peruvian, adds "Frontière". He studied mathematics.
Rima Hassan, whose conference in Lyon indirectly caused Cantin's death, is a representative of the French radical left "France Unrestrained". She is from a Palestinian family, born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, recalls "Politico". Rima Hassan is invariably present in various debates on the Palestinian issue. Last year alone, she participated in two initiatives to provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip blocked by Israel. Both initiatives also involved Swedish environmental activist and supporter of the Palestinian cause Greta Thunberg, who recently criticized the right-wing Italian government.
The incident that led to the death of Kanten Déoranque in Lyon occurred in the midst of the election campaign for local elections in France.
The “Nemesis” movement, which organized the counter-demonstration to Rima Hassan’s conference, was born in the late 2000s and says that it expresses, among other things, feminist positions, but traditional feminist movements distance themselves from it. Some of its positions have been defined as xenophobic, racist, anti-Islamic, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBT. The movement is well received by the traditional far right in France.
In this context, the death of Kanten Djorank occurred. In the days following his death, in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was busy with a visit to the town of Nisemi, which was hit by a catastrophic landslide, and with a key government meeting, at which a decree was adopted to ease the price burden in the energy sector for individuals and legal entities. Her government was also preparing to participate in the first meeting of the Peace Council, initiated by Donald Trump, and this preparation became the occasion for a fierce debate in parliament, pitting Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani against the left-wing opposition. At the Peace Council meeting in Washington, Italy was present as an observer and was represented by Tajani, Italian media recall.
In Italy, the dispute between the right and the left regarding the reform of the judicial system also continued. The issue will be put to a referendum in March and Italy is already campaigning for the vote, media reports say.
On two occasions during this period, Meloni has also clashed with Italian judges who have made decisions interpreted by the government as being against the Italian government's migration policy, which Rome recently tightened and which it says is seen as a successful model to follow in Europe, ANSA reported. The government's migration policy in Italy has also been criticized by the Italian left. On Tuesday, Meloni said that politicized members of the judiciary continue to hinder the government's efforts to combat migration and migrant crime, after an Italian court ruled that an Algerian illegal immigrant in Italy with 23 convictions, including for beating a woman, must be compensated by the authorities who failed to deport him to his home country. Judges even ruled that not only would the migrant not be expelled, but that the Interior Ministry would also have to pay him compensation of 700 euros for trying to enforce an expulsion order, Meloni said, referring to the fact that the migrant had challenged this order and the court had ruled in his favor.
A day later, a court in Palermo ordered Italy to pay 76,000 euros in compensation to the German NGO for rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean Sea “Sea Watch“, ANSA recalls. The verdict was in the case it filed for the illegal detention of one of its ships in 2019, when during the first government of Giuseppe Conte, the then Interior Minister from the “Lega” party Matteo Salvini banned ships of humanitarian organizations from docking with migrants in Italy. The Sea Watch ship, commanded by German captain Carola Rackete, forced this kind of blockade imposed by Salvini, which led to the detention of the vessel and its captain and a court case against Rackete, in which she was already acquitted. The right and the left have clashed positions on this case for years. Meloni said on Wednesday that the new decision of the Palermo court regarding the Sea Watch has now left her speechless. "Not only was Rackete acquitted because, according to some magistrates, it was permissible to break through a police blockade in the name of mass illegal immigration, but now the judges have made another decision that leaves me literally speechless: they have condemned the Italian state to compensate the NGO, the owner of the ship, with 76,000 euros," Meloni wrote on social media. "The ship was detained and confiscated rightfully," she said. "What message are they trying to send with this long series of absurd decisions?" Meloni asked. She added that the judges were clearly trying to tell the public that the government was not allowed to try to combat mass illegal immigration and that whatever laws were passed and whatever proceedings were conducted, a politicized segment of the judiciary was ready to intervene. She was referring to left-wing judges acting against the right-wing government. "We are particularly persistent and will continue, doing everything we can to keep the word we gave to the Italian people and to apply the rules and laws of the Italian state," Meloni said. "We will do everything necessary to protect our borders and the safety of our citizens," the Italian prime minister stressed.
Her comments in turn sparked outrage from the Italian left, which said Meloni was trying to interfere with the independence of the judiciary.
It was in this context that Meloni posted a comment on his social channels about Quentin Derank five days after his death. The comment included a photo of Derank. “The murder of the young Quentin Derank in France is an event that has deeply shocked and saddened us. The death of a boy in his early twenties, attacked by groups associated with left-wing extremism and swept away by the wave of ideological hatred that has swept across various countries, is a wound for all of Europe. No political idea, no ideological opposition can justify violence or turn a dispute into physical aggression. "When hatred and violence take the place of dialogue, democracy always loses," Meloni said in her post about the death of Durank.
This has drawn criticism from left-wing figures in Italy, who say she is using a domestic political event in France to attack the left.
Many also recalled that when pro-Trump blogger Charlie Kirk was murdered in the US last summer, Meloni commented on the incident in posts, interviews and statements at various events, including a forum of the European conservative right in Madrid and a forum of her ruling party's youth movement in Rome. Each time, she warned of threats to the conservative right and criticized left-wing ideologies. Now her reaction to the murder of Kanten Durank is reminiscent of her reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk.
The day after, from Delhi, where he was on an official visit, Macron gave a lengthy interview to French journalists. In it, he touched on many topics. One of them was about "that world order that is reduced to a relationship between a suzerain and a vassal", which Macron criticized, which was perceived as an indirect criticism of Donald Trump, with whom Meloni maintains a close relationship. Macron also spoke in the interview about social networks that are safe for minors and artificial intelligence, two areas in which the American technology giants that Trump defends dominate. Macron also expressed his support again for the project for a new generation of European fighter jet, on which France is working with Germany and Spain. This support was expressed at a time when it is believed that Germany will withdraw from the project to join the competing project of Italy, Britain and Japan, recalls Agence France-Presse.
However, journalists asked the French president about the case of Kanten Déranc and about Meloni's comments. “I am always struck by the fact that people who are nationalists and who do not want to be bothered in their own country are always the first to comment on what is happening in others”, said an irritated Macron. And he added ironically: “Let everyone stay at home and the sheep will be well looked after“. Thus, he used an idiomatic expression, which means that when a person minds his own business and does not interfere in the business of others, there will be no problems.
And the president's entourage said that Macron "is obviously concerned about the situation in connection with the death of Durank and is closely following what is happening in France". "Any escalation of violence must be avoided", the president's entourage also emphasized. Macron himself stated that in France "there is no place for movements that perceive and legitimize violence", referring to both far-right and far-left movements.
Macron's words regarding Meloni were immediately commented on by Italian media. They also found an echo in European publications. Italian opposition representatives hinted that Macron had put Meloni in her place.
A response from Italian Foreign Minister Tajani follows. “The murder of a young French activist is a serious matter that concerns everyone. This episode must be condemned without hesitation”, said Tajani. “A murder cannot have national borders, it is a warning to those who use hatred and violence, it is a warning to those who insult and preach the use of insulting language”, stressed Tajani. “There have been many Kantenists in Italy. Some of them were during the darkest period of the Italian Republic”, added Tajani. “That is why condemning episodes like the one in Lyon also aims to ensure that we do not return to the ugly past in Italy. Because politics is above all dialogue and discussion, even with those who do not think like us”, said Tajani.
Meloni herself commented on Macron's words in an interview she gave last night to the media “Sky TG24“. Asked about Macron's reaction to her comment on the death of Kanten Dérank, Meloni said: “I did not expect such a statement from Macron. My thoughts were not only about France, but about the risks of polarization in society. Intervention is something else - for example, when an elected leader says he will control another country“. “I regret that Macron interpreted these comments as intervention“, added Meloni. She then clarified: “Taking the floor to express solidarity with the French people on an issue that clearly affects everyone does not constitute intervention. I regret that Macron did not understand it“.
“I see a climate that I do not like. "I see it in Italy, I see it in France, I see it in the United States," Meloni said. She was referring to Italy's "Years of Lead" (1969-1980), when the country was rocked by attacks by radical Marxist organizations such as the "Red Brigades" and far-right groups. At the time, members of the "Red Brigades" had taken refuge in France, Agence France-Presse reported.
“The ruling classes must think about how to deal with a (political) climate that could set us back decades – to a story that Italy knows very well and that France also knows well, since it granted political asylum to members of the “Red Brigades“, said Meloni.
The climate of the “Years of Lead“ was recently discussed in Italy during a protest against the closure of a left-wing cultural and social center in Turin. At the end of the protest, a group of radicals clashed with the police, and a carabinieri was isolated from his colleagues and beaten, including being hit with a hammer. Only the intervention of another carabinieri saved him from more serious consequences of this lynching. The authorities defined this violence as an “attempted murder” of a police officer. And Italy passed a law to tighten security measures.
A week later, there were several sabotages on Italian railways and a protest against the hosting of the Olympic Games in Milan that escalated into clashes with the police.
Now the question is whether Meloni and Macron will be able to smooth over their relations after the new source of tension and whether this tension will not affect plans for their summit in Toulouse in April.
On Sunday, Italy will officially hand over the hosting of the Winter Olympics to France. Meloni and French Prime Minister Sébastien Le Corneille will attend the ceremony. Macron, who will not attend the opening of the Games in Milan on February 6, will also miss the closing, which will be in Verona, ANSA recalls.
Italian and French media recall that last year, during a forum organized by the movement of Frenchwoman Marion Marechal Le Pen, niece of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, Meloni expressed hope in a video conference in French that one day the conservative right would come to power in France. At the time, Macron made no official comment that it was interfering in French affairs.
Now, French media recall that in Delhi, Macron gave a separate interview to the Indian editorial office of the French media outlet “Brute“, in which he also spoke about some questions that journalists usually do not ask him during his visits abroad. For example, he said that he made big mistakes when he was too confident. As a specific example, he pointed out that this happened when he made statements and expected a certain reaction, but achieved a different reaction. "When a person thinks he can say everything, he sometimes remains misunderstood and that makes him very uncomfortable later." Whether this was another hint at those speaking out about France's internal affairs, or whether it could be interpreted as him being wrong to criticize another leader, analysts and commentators will say.
And while new high tensions arose between Italy and France, criticism came from Poland towards both countries. Yesterday, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Koszyniak-Kamiś called on Spain, France and Italy to increase their military spending in order to strengthen the defense capabilities of the European Union and NATO, Agence France-Presse reported. He recalled that his country, along with Germany and the Scandinavian countries, had already responded to US President Donald Trump's call for Europe to take greater responsibility for its own security. "I would like Spain to hear this call. I would like Italy and France to hear this call even more loudly to increase defense spending," the Polish minister said.