Go beyond “controversies” to “work together”. Tuesday, June 20, Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni expressed this wish, on the occasion of the first visit to Paris of the head of the Italian government. Among the subjects that were put on the table during this meeting, the thorny issue of immigration, currently unavoidable, after, among other things, the sinking of a boat on which were more than 700 migrants, on the night of June 13-14. Only 104 people have been found. A subject that has, until then, poisoned their relations.
His French counterpart pleaded for a “frank, ambitious and demanding dialogue” between Paris and Rome. He invoked “this unique relationship that exists between Italy and France”. “It’s this friendship that matters to me in the first place”, “the one that sometimes allows controversies, disagreements to live, but in a framework that is always respectful because it is part of a story bigger than us, deeper, which has fed our imaginations, our artists, collective adventures”.
“Italy and France are two linked nations, two important, central nations, protagonists in Europe that need dialogue at a time like this, because our common interests are very converging,” replied Giorgia Meloni. “I am hopeful that from today’s dialogue we will be able to work even better and even more together. »
On paper, however, everything opposes the two political figures. Emmanuel Macron, on the one hand, claims to be a frankly pro-European progressivism. Giorgia Meloni, on the other hand, is at the head of an ultra-conservative coalition, itself coming from a post-fascist party and which has espoused clearly Eurosceptic positions in the past.
And in fact, the sparks did not take long.
After a brief informal meeting in Rome in October in the wake of the appointment of Ms. Meloni, victorious in the legislative elections, the migration file has fueled tensions. In particular when Italy refused, in November, to welcome the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking and the 230 migrants on board, pushing France to let it dock while denouncing the “unacceptable” behavior of Rome.
Another episode when the French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin aroused transalpine ire this spring by judging Giorgia Meloni “unable to resolve the migration problems on which she was elected”.
The two leaders mentioned the migration issue to show that cooperation was possible. “We continue to experience tragedies in the Mediterranean,” noted the French head of state. “The coordination and the good work between our two countries must continue, we must be able to organize asylum and migration more effectively in Europe by being faithful to our values”, he added in s addressing his “dear Giorgia”.
At his side, Giorgia Meloni defended her very tough 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 Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron that France and Italy must act together. This corresponds to the interests of both countries,” notes historian Marc Lazar, professor at Sciences Po. According to him, “real convergence” exists in the face of the war in Ukraine and the renegotiation of the European budgetary stability pact, approach of the European Council at the end of June and the NATO summit scheduled for July 11 and 12 in Vilnius.
Since she came to power, Giorgia Meloni has in fact shown herself to be very attached to supporting kyiv and very measured towards Brussels. Common support for Ukraine was also reaffirmed on Tuesday, the day after Emmanuel Macron announced the now operational deployment on the ground of a Franco-Italian SAMP / T surface-to-air missile system.
Between now and the European elections in June 2024, “there will be no shortage of controversies between the Italian right and Macron’s party”, which have “deep differences on the future of Europe”, which “risks affecting the normalization of relations,” warns Marc Lazar, however.
