Meloni in Paris with Macron: "Italy and France are two linked nations"

Giorgia Meloni is in France to defend the project of Universal Exhibition 2030 in Rome. First visit of the President of the Italian Council to the other side of the Alps. She had a meeting on Tuesday, June 20 with President Macron, announced at the last moment. The time has come for de-escalation, after a series of crises between the two countries over immigration.

The President of the Italian Council Giorgia Meloni and the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, this Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Paris. AP - Michel Euler

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She has been leading the Italian government for nine months, but this is the first time she has been received in Paris. Since last May, the time has come for a thaw between Paris and Rome. During the joint statement that preceded their meeting, at the Elysée Palace, Emmanuel Macron insisted on "this unique relationship that exists between Italy and France". It is "this friendship that matters to me in the first place," said the head of state.

Italy and France have common interests, on the European "stability pact", which they want to renegotiate in Brussels, or on Ukraine, an issue on which Giorgia Meloni has clearly taken NATO's side against Russia. Even on the migration issue, the object of all tensions, the Italian leader needs the France to obtain the relocation of migrants arriving on her territory.

For her part, the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni stressed the necessary "dialogue" between these two brotherly countries: "Italy and France are two linked nations, two important nations, central, protagonists in Europe, which need dialogue at a time like this, because our common interests are very convergent," says the leader from the Fratelli d'Italia party.

In fact, the French president discussed this Monday with the Italian Prime Minister the subject that, once again, annoys between Rome and Paris, namely the migration issue. Emmanuel Macron called for continued bilateral "coordination" between the two countries on the subject, and insisted on the necessary "frank, ambitious, demanding dialogue" between Rome and Paris, beyond "controversies, disagreements".

LIVE | Statement by President @EmmanuelMacron and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni. https://t.co/CEEPrNPV4U

— Elysée (@Elysee) June 20, 2023

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We must be able to organize asylum and migration in Europe more effectively by being faithful to our values," he insisted, while in November, the France had denounced the "unacceptable behavior" of Italy, which refused to welcome the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking and 230 migrants on board. Shortly after her arrival, Ms. Meloni refused. Paris had let the ship dock on its territory.

In the following months, several tense exchanges followed between the Italian government and French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, while Meloni had already made very undiplomatic remarks on the France and its history, its influence in Africa, during the legislative campaign. Eventually, diplomats from both countries then moved to ease tensions.

>> READ ALSO: Brouille France-Italy: in Paris, the government tries to find the right tone

Emmanuel Macron had been the first foreign leader to meet the new Italian leader in Rome, just after her accession to power, for an informal meeting, with relations deteriorating. Politically, everything opposes Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni. The French president is progressive, pro-European, while the Italian leader comes from a far-right party.

This meeting should therefore make it possible to renew the dialogue between the two leaders of two countries intimately linked, on the occasion of Rome's candidacy for the organization of the Universal Exhibition 2030, which Giorgia Meloni ardently supports, unlike French diplomacy and Emmanuel Macron, who favor the candidacy file of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

Parigi, Quarta Assemblea Generale del @bieparis: il mio intervento per la presentazione della candidatura @Expo2030Roma. https://t.co/oRueyxPB27

— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) June 20, 2023

>> READ ALSO: World Expo 2030: the candidates, starting with Giorgia Meloni, rush to Paris

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  • France
  • Italy
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Giorgia Meloni
  • Diplomacy
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Mohammed ben Salman