It is an interview that symbolizes the warming of their relationships. Emmanuel Macron spoke at length this Tuesday with his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni. While in Rome to participate in the funeral of former president Giorgio Napolitano, he was able to discuss with the far-right leader the immigration issue, symbolized in recent days by the arrival of thousands of people to the small Italian island of Lampedusa.
In this regard, Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni have recently made numerous statements of appeasement and a desire to act together to manage the flow of migrants.
“Agreement of reason”
The two leaders agreed this Tuesday on the “need to find a European solution to the migration issue,” said the Elysée. They will meet again on Friday in Malta for the tenth summit of the southern countries of the European Union before an informal meeting of the European Council on October 4 in Granada (Spain).
Historian Marc Lazar sees in his approach an “understanding of reason.”
“They have fundamental political differences, but for the moment the two governments are trying to show that they act hand in hand” in the face of their common challenges, he considers.
However, relations between the president of the Italian Council, at the head of an ultra-conservative coalition, and the French president, who declares himself frankly pro-European, did not begin with the best auspices.
The Ocean Viking precedent
Following Giorgia Meloni’s victory in the September 2022 legislative elections, the Rome-Paris axis, which had narrowed under Mario Draghi, had weakened again. French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne had warned Italy that she must “respect” human rights and the right to abortion in Italy. A slap in the face to the new majority.
In November, fulfilling Giorgia Meloni’s promises to “block” the disembarkation of migrants, Italy triggered a diplomatic crisis by refusing to take in the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking and the 230 people on board.
France had let him dock while he denounced Rome’s “unacceptable” behavior. The following spring, the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, lit the fuse again by judging Giorgia Meloni “incapable of solving the immigration problems for which she was elected.” In Italy, the political reactions were violent. But the two leaders quickly decided to talk to each other, increasing the number of bilateral calls and interviews, such as at the G7 meeting in May in Japan.
“We cannot leave the Italians alone”
And it is the burning immigration issue that, paradoxically, has come to serve justice in recent weeks: in mid-September, 8,500 immigrants landed in three days on the Italian island of Lampedusa, located less than 150 kilometers from the Tunisian coast. one of the first stops for immigrants crossing the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching Europe. Giorgia Meloni brings Ursula von der Leyen to the island, who announces an emergency aid plan. In Paris, the tone is more conciliatory: Giorgia Meloni asking the European Union for help is a blessing.
“We cannot leave the Italians alone,” argues Emmanuel Macron.
Same foot change among the Italians. The head of Italian diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, traveling in Paris on Monday afternoon, expressed his satisfaction with French “solidarity.” According to some analysts, Brussels and Paris want to use their aid to Italy as leverage for Giorgia Meloni to pressure her sovereignist allies, Hungary and Poland, to accelerate the reform of the Asylum and Immigration Pact.
Tense context between Rome and Berlin
Italian criticism is now focusing on Germany, accused of having temporarily stopped accepting immigrants living in Italy, after Rome itself suspended European rules regulating the distribution of immigrants. Rome also criticizes Berlin for funding NGOs that help migrants in its country.
For the center-left newspaper La Repubblica, Giorgia Meloni, by challenging Germany, seeks to “build an enemy” to better sell her desire for rapprochement with Brussels and Paris. The Franco-Italian thaw owes a lot to the calendar: Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron want to demonstrate their ability to find solutions in the run-up to the 2024 European elections.
“Goodbye French”
Although they are adversaries in the Strasbourg Parliament, they intend to present themselves as pragmatic leaders, above the fray, in the face of their respective troublemakers, anchored in the extreme right, Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen, supporters of a hard line, nationalist and nationalist for stop immigration. Matteo Salvini’s Anti-Immigrant League is a member of Giorgia Meloni’s government coalition and he himself is one of two deputy prime ministers along with Antonio Tajani.
Beyond the migration issue, Italy and France share a strategy of support for Ukraine. They also defend, with Spain and against Germany and the so-called “frugal” countries, the same line on the stability pact.
Which does not mean that there are not other areas of friction, for example in Africa, where Italy “wants to get a foot in the door” taking advantage of the French decline, points out Marc Lazar. “Adieu Françafrique,” wrote the Turin newspaper La Stampa on Tuesday.
Source: BFM TV
