German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has cancelled his planned holiday in Italy following anti-German remarks by an Italian government official, the German government said today.
Mr Stefano Stefani, an Italian junior minister responsible for tourism, has refused to apologise for describing Germans as "hyper-nationalistic blondes" who invade Italian beaches.
Mr Schroeder had threatened on Monday to cancel his summer holiday after the remarks and will instead spend his vacation in his home town of Hanover in northern Germany.
"Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder no longer wants to subject his family to speculation about their joint holiday. The problems arising would impair the necessary relaxation and quiet time together," the government said in a statement.
Mr Schroeder, who has spent his holiday in Italy on a number of occasions, was due to have spent about two weeks on the Adriatic coast starting at the end of next week.
But German-Italian relations have soured progressively since Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi compared a German member of the European Parliament to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
Mr Schroeder had accepted Berlusconi's regret for the remark last week but threatened to cancel his holiday in response to a tirade by Mr Stefani in a right-wing newspaper this week.
Mr Stefani wrote: "We know the Germans well, these stereotyped hyper-nationalistic blondes, who've been indoctrinated from the beginning to feel top of the class whatever the situation."
Germans "loudly invaded" Italian beaches, eating spaghetti while criticising Italy for Mafia killings, Mr Stefani wrote in the letter to La Padania, the newspaper of the Northern League party, coalition partner in Berlusconi's government.
Rome has distanced itself from Mr Stefani's comments.
The affair looks set to cast further shadows on the start of Italy's EU presidency, which started last week and was marred by Mr Berlusconi's Nazi jibe.