The French President, Emmanuel Macronhas unexpectedly become this Sunday the first European president to meet with Giorgia Meloni after the inauguration of the new Italian prime minister and some initial disagreements between the two leaders. “As Europeans, from neighboring countries, as friendly peoples, with Italy we must continue all the work that has been started. To do it together, with dialogue and ambition, we owe it to our youth and our peoples. Our first meeting in Rome goes in this direction”, Macron has written on social networksafter the conference.
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
The conversation has apparently served to unblock the relationship between Rome and Paris, as also highlighted by the Meloni press office. The meeting, of more than an hour, has been “cordial and fruitful”, specified sources from Palazzo Chigi, the presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy. Meloni and Macron spoke of ” all major european dossiers: the need to give rapid and common responses on the high price of energy, support for Ukraine, the difficult economic situation, the management of migratory flows”, the same sources continued, adding that both countries will continue to collaborate “respecting the reciprocal national interests“.
In truth, the meeting between the two leaders that had not been announced, takes place after, in recent weeks, Meloni’s electoral victory was greeted with suspicion by Paris. So much so that the French Minister for European Affairs, Laurence Boone, even stated, in an interview with an Italian newspaper, that France was going to “monitor respect for rights and freedoms” of the new government in Rome. Boone’s words are an “unacceptable threat of interference against a sovereign state, a member of the European Union & rdquor ;, was then Meloni’s response.
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That is also why the information aroused great interest from the transalpine press this Sunday, after the French authorities confirmed the meeting, which was held on the sidelines of a planned visit de Macron in the Italian capital to attend an event with the Catholic association of Sant’Egidio, which was held in the Roman neighborhood of EUR and in which the war in Ukraine was also addressed.
In fact, the meeting joins a series of contacts of the European authorities with the new Italian Government that are taking place right now. An example of this was, today, a telephone call between the new Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, and the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union, Joseph Borrell. “The EU is a fundamental reference for Italy. We will work together to face global challenges and a just peace in Ukraine,” said Tajani, after speaking with the Spanish politician.