Brussels, 08/07/2003 (Agence Europe) Declarations from the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Franco Frattini and the Minister for Productive Activities, Antonio Marzano, have lit a new Italian/German polemic, -provoked by the insulting remarks by the Under Secretary for Tourism, Stefano Stefani (Northern League) made in La Padania on Monday, describing Germans as "blond stereotypes eating spaghettis an invading our beaches". The exchange of hundreds of tourists between Italy and Germany is the "living proof of a solid relationship which cannot be harmed", declared Mr Frattini. And Mr Marzano provided assurances that the insulting remarks did not reflect the position of the Italian government. Bela Anda, spokesperson for Gerhard Schröder, welcomed this distancing from the comments made, and explained that: "in the interest of amical relations between Italy and Germany, the federal government's starting point is the premise that the remarks made from the two Ministers are the positions of the Italian federal government"