Meloni to discuss Franco-Italian relations in Paris after months of tensions

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the Élysée Palace to discuss European issues and Franco-Italian relations in Paris on Tuesday following months of tension between both governments.

Meloni will meet Macron on the sidelines of a visit to the International Bureau of Expositions to defend Rome’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo. This will be Meloni’s first visit to France, as relations between the two countries have been somewhat strained since she took her position as head of the Italian executive.

After Italy’s legislative elections in September 2022, the French Minister for Europe Laurence Boone told EURACTIV France and La Repubblica that France would be “attentive to respect for European values” on the part of Italy, now led by the far right.

This angered Meloni, who denounced an “unacceptable threat of interference” and demanded a “denial” from the French government even before she was appointed prime minister. The denial never came, but rather a promise to work together across political divides.

Macron, first head of state to meet Meloni

Meloni’s first meeting with a foreign head of state was accidentally with Macron, who was on a long-anticipated visit to the Vatican. As Meloni had been officially sworn in to form her government the day before his arrival, Macron could not avoid meeting her, but not without some embarrassment. The Élysée remained very discreet on the subject, having implicitly let it be known that the request for a meeting had come from the Italian side.

The first real diplomatic crisis occurred a few weeks after the Italian government took office, in November 2022, over the migrants transported by the Ocean Viking, a ship belonging to the NGO SOS Méditerranée, which France took in after a stand-off with Italy.

At the time, France felt that Italy had not fulfilled its rescue obligation. “France deeply regrets that Italy has chosen not to behave like a responsible European state”, said French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

In retaliation, France suspended the relocation of 3,500 refugees who had arrived in Italy and called on the other countries concerned – Germany in particular – to do the same.

Since then, migration issues have plagued relations between France and Italy. “Meloni, chosen by Le Pen’s friends, is incapable of resolving the migration problems [for which] she was elected”, Darmanin reiterated in early May, rekindling tensions with the Italian executive.

In response, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) cancelled a visit to Paris to meet his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, offended by Mr Darmanin’s “insults”, which he deemed “unacceptable”.

The President of Macron’s party and Chair of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, Stéphane Séjourné, followed suit, denouncing Meloni’s “unfair, inhumane and ineffective” immigration policy.

Attempts to mend fences

A meeting between Colonna and Tajani finally took place at the end of May in Rome in a bid to appease both parties and “conduct a constructive dialogue”, in the words of the Italian minister for foreign affairs.

Despite all these differences, Macron and Meloni are fairly much in sync on support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war, although last February, she was kept away from a working dinner organised in Paris between the French President, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – which she described as “inappropriate”.

“Joint support for Ukraine” will be on the agenda, said the French Presidency. Macron and Meloni “will take advantage of this meeting to prepare the [next] European Council” on 29 and 30 June in Brussels and “the NATO summit to be held in Vilnius” on 11 and 12 July, the Élysée added.

“Bilateral relations” between the two countries are also due to be discussed, possibly including these various points of tension.

(Davide Basso | EURACTIV.fr)