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The meeting, which took place informally, took place in a hotel in Rome, the Italian capital. The interview between the two is the first of the new Italian premier, the post-fascist Giorgia Meloni, with a foreign head of state. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will be in the Alpine country in the coming days to participate in an event for peace, hold a meeting with the Italian president as well as with Pope Francis, with whom he will meet on Monday.
Despite not being on the agenda, this Sunday the first meeting between Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron took place. The French president is in Italy as part of a program of activities that will lead him to meet, among others, with Pope Francis and Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
The meeting between the two leaders, which lasted more than an hour, took place on the terrace of a hotel in Rome. It was defined as “cordial and helpful” by the far-right team. For his part, the French president referred to the interview on his Twitter account.
“As Europeans, bordering countries, for the friendship of our peoples, we must continue with Italy the work undertaken. Achieving it together, with dialogue and ambition, we owe it to our young people and our peoples, Giorgia Meloni is going in this direction”, wrote the head of state.
En Européens, en pays voisins, en peuples amis, avec l’Italie nous devrons poursuivre tout le travail engagé. Réussir ensemble, avec dialogue et ambition, nous le devons à notre jeunesse et à nos peuples. Notre première rencontre à Rome, @GiorgiaMeloniva dans ce sens. pic.twitter.com/njWFLo97b9
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 23, 2022
From the Italian side, a note of the exchange was released. Among the topics discussed was “the need to provide rapid and common responses to rising energy prices”, “support for Ukraine, the difficult economic situation and the management of migratory flows”.
The note concluded with the coincidence of both leaders “in the will to continue collaborating on the great common challenges at European level” and on reciprocal national interests. On this day, Macron also exchanged with the new foreign minister of the Mediterranean nation, Antonio Tajani, from the right-wing Forza Italia party.
The head of the Elysée Palace will carry out different activities in the Alpine country these days. On his first day, he participated in a forum for peace organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio. The president will hold a private audience with Pope Francis on Monday and will meet with his counterpart, Sergio Matarella.
A visit that ratifies good relations
Macron’s visit is a good sign for relations between the two nations. In 2019, France called its ambassador in Rome for consultations, a form of diplomatic protest, for the meeting that the then Vice President of the Government Luigi Di Maio held with members of the yellow vests.
At the beginning of the month, Meloni was upset by statements by the Secretary of State for European Affairs of France, Laurence Boone, who stated that with the coming to power of the coalition of the new prime minister, she feared that the rights and freedoms in Italy.
“Come europei, come paesi vicini, come popoli amici, with l’Italia we dobbiamo will continue tutto il lavoro iniziato. Riuscire insieme, with dialogue and ambizione: we dobbiamo ai nostri giovani e ai nostri popoli”. https://t.co/vlYvzmvWrd
—RaiNews (@RaiNews) October 23, 2022
Apart from this isolated episode, relations are fluid between both nations. In 2021, the “Quirinal Treaty” was a boost for binational collaboration. Signed by Emmanuel Macron and the then Italian head of government Mario Draghi, the agreement reinforced the Franco-Italian axis within the European Union in terms of migration policy, economic and industrial cooperation, education and culture, among others.
As reported by the EFE news agency, Rome has taken the European course in recent times, promising to maintain alliances with Europe and NATO, while showing determination to support Ukraine, a nation invaded by Russian military forces.
Despite the tensions within the far-right coalition due to the personal ties of Meloni’s partners -Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini- with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the last hours the Roman waters returned to their course and this Sunday the already sworn premiere Italian chaired its first Council of Ministers.
with EFE
