Italy reignites Mont Blanc border dispute with France

Italy has reignited a dispute with France over Mont Blanc border rights after French authorities imposed measures that encroached on Italian territory.

Luigi Di Maio, the Italian foreign minister, who in the past has stoked tensions with France over other issues, said he had written a formal letter of complaint to the French government via the Italian embassy in Paris expressing his “strong disappointment” over the “interference” on the highest Alpine peak.

The dispute began in October last year after local authorities in Chamonix, Les Houches and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains set up a natural protection zone in an area of more than 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) on Mont Blanc intended to prevent tourist overcrowding, including measures banning paragliding and poorly equipped hikers.

However, the targeted area affects a zone on the Gigante glacier, which lies under the famous Rifugio Torino and was defined by a treaty signed in 1860 as being part of Italy. Rifugio Torino, popular with skiers and hikers, is reachable from Courmayeur by the Skyway, a cable car completed in 2015 that links the Italian town with Pointe Helbronner, a 3,462-metre mountain on the frontier between the two countries.

Di Maio was pushed to intervene after a deputy with the small far-right party Brothers of Italy raised questions in parliament over concerns that the French were trying to monopolise the holiday destination.

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The French measures include a ban on any kind of vehicle and on taking pets to the area. There are also strict rules to protect plants and wildlife.

“Such unilateral measures cannot and must not affect Italian territory,” Di Maio said.

It is not the first time the countries have squabbled over the area surrounding the Rifiugio Torino. In 2015, the mayor of Chamonix, Eric Fournier, ordered Alpine guides to close off access to the Gigante glacier on the Italian side. At the time, Fournier argued that access was denied for security reasons. But the move, which came a few months after French authorities used bulldozers to shift a border marker 150 metres into Italian territory, provoked outrage among leaders in Courmayeur.

Di Maio’s move has been celebrated by Brothers of Italy, which until now accused the government of “indifference” over the matter. The party’s leader, Giorgia Meloni, wrote on Twitter: “Brothers of Italy denounced the unacceptable French invasion of Mont Blanc. France continues to violate our borders. We cannot tolerate yet another attack on Italy.”

Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party, also waded into the debate, saying: “We just need national borders to be respected on Mont Blanc.”

Di Maio caused a diplomatic row with France in early 2019 after travelling to Paris to meet leaders of the “yellow vest’ movement.