Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: Ludovic MARIN / AFP 19:03 pm, June 20, 2023

After a series of crises around immigration, the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron insisted Tuesday on the necessary "dialogue" between the two countries. "It is essential that Rome and Paris continue to work both bilaterally and multilaterally," Meloni said.

Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday announced their intention to "work together" beyond the "controversies", especially on the thorny issue of immigration that has so far poisoned their relations. During this first visit to Paris by the head of the Italian government, the French president invoked "this unique relationship that exists between Italy and France". "It is this friendship that matters to me in the first place", "the one that allows to live sometimes controversies, disagreements but in a framework always respectful because it is part of a history greater than us, deeper, which has nourished our imaginations, our artists, collective adventures", he added in front of the press. He pleaded for a "frank, ambitious, demanding dialogue" between Paris and Rome.

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"Italy and France are two linked nations, two important, central, protagonist nations in Europe that need dialogue at a time like this because our common interests are very convergent," Meloni replied. "I am hopeful that from today's dialogue we will be able to work even better and even more together."

Migration has fuelled tensions

Everything is supposed to oppose Emmanuel Macron, who claims a frankly pro-European progressivism, and Giorgia Meloni, at the head of an ultraconservative coalition, itself from a post-fascist party and who has espoused in the past clearly eurosceptic positions. And indeed, the sparks were not long in coming. After a brief informal meeting in Rome in October in the wake of the nomination of Giorgia Meloni, victorious in the legislative elections, the migration issue has fueled tensions.

Notably when Italy refused in November to welcome the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking and the 230 migrants on board, pushing the France to let it dock while denouncing the "unacceptable" behavior of Rome. Or when French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin aroused transalpine ire this spring by judging Giorgia Meloni "incapable of resolving the migration problems on which she was elected".

'Coordination between our two countries must continue,' Macron says

But at the same time, diplomatic circles have worked to rebuild ties. And after several meetings on the sidelines of international meetings, the Italian Prime Minister ended up going to Paris where she had been invited for many months - even if her visit officially aims to defend Rome's bid for Expo 2030. The two leaders discussed the migration issue to show that cooperation was possible.

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"We continue to experience tragedies in the Mediterranean," said the French head of state. "Coordination and good work between our two countries must continue", "we must be able to organise asylum and migration in Europe more effectively by being faithful to our values", he added, addressing his "dear Giorgia".

At his side, Giorgia Meloni defended her very hard positions on the matter, while also insisting on the need to continue "to work together both bilaterally and multilaterally". "Despite the political and ideological differences between the two governments, there is an awareness in Meloni and Macron that France and Italy must act together. This corresponds to the interests of both countries," historian Marc Lazar, a professor at Sciences-Po, told AFP.

"Differences" on Europe

According to him "real convergences" exist in the face of the war in Ukraine and the renegotiation of the European budgetary stability pact, in the run-up to the European Council at the end of June and the NATO summit scheduled for 11th and 12th July in Vilnius. Since she came to power, Giorgia Meloni has in fact been very attached to support for Kiev and very measured vis-à-vis Brussels. Joint support for Ukraine was reaffirmed on Tuesday, the day after Emmanuel Macron announced the deployment now operational on the ground of a Franco-Italian surface-to-air missile system SAMP/T.

"We can see that between France and Germany at the moment it's not crazy," said Jean-Pierre Darnis, a professor at Rome's Luiss University. The Meloni-Macron duo therefore has "every interest" in consolidating "convergence" on the European economic track. Between now and the European elections in June 2024, "there will be no shortage of polemics between the Italian right and Macron's party", which have "deep differences on the future of Europe", which "risks reflecting on the normalization of relations", warns Marc Lazar.