BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentine President Javier Milei and French President Emmanuel Macron met Friday in Paris where they appeared to put aside recent controversy stemming from their countries’ fierce soccer rivalry.
The meeting comes after a video clip spread online showing the Argentine national soccer team’s post-match racist chants, prompting backlash from French officials over lyrics considered offensive toward French players of African descent.
The song originated from fans’ chants ahead of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup final against France in Qatar, and resurfaced after the Argentina team’s Copa America triumph over Colombia.
Exacerbating matters, Argentine Vice President Victoria Villarruel rushed to the defense of the Argentina players recorded singing the derogatory chants and publicly lambasted the French government as hypocritical for its criticism of Argentina.
The Argentine presidency said that Macron expressed gratitude Friday for efforts by Milei’s sister and general secretary of the presidency, Karina Milei, to defuse the diplomatic crisis by apologizing at the French embassy for Villarruel’s remarks.
Macron thanked Karina Milei “directly and especially for her words,” the Argentine presidency said. The French government did not immediately provide its own read-out of the leaders’ meeting.
Milei’s office seemed eager to show that the leaders had moved past the crisis, saying their talks Friday ahead of the Olympics opening reflected the “excellent state of the relationship between France and Argentina and, more specifically, between both presidents.” The talks ranged from Argentina’s attempts to secure another cash lifeline from the International Monetary Fund to Sunday’s presidential elections in Venezuela, the statement said.
Milei’s office also said that Macron congratulated him for his market-oriented reforms that have succeeded in slashing the state’s fiscal defici t. The reforms also have pummeled Argentines struggling to cope with 270% annual inflation and deepening poverty.
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