Certainly the meeting between the heads of state Emmanuel Macron and Sergio Mattarella, on June 7 at the Louvre, was warmer and more friendly than that of June 20 at the Elysée between the President of the French Republic and Giorgia Meloni. But the important thing was to get out of the vicious circle of inconclusive and risky controversies, an objective that was achieved by the Parisian mission of the prime minister. Mission double facewhich had its official motivation in the desire to support Rome’s candidacy for theExpo 2030but which had its main concrete outcome in the image of Macron-Meloni at the Elysée.
The two leaders shake hands and force a smile for the cameras. The personal feeling is not there, but the political turn there seems to have been: Italy and France can do nothing but enhance the great deal that unites them (starting with their common interests in Europe), getting rid of or sweeping the obstacles to their dialogue under the rug.
What unites and what divides
On two points, the Macron-Meloni relationship is clear, solid and constructive: Ukraine and review of Stability pact community. So their meeting at the Elysée, the first to have taken place in a French or Italian institutional venue, was also a step towards the European Council at the end of the month, which will see the two leaders affirm similar positions on the future of the stability pact. An added value that will have its own weight in front of Germany. The forthcoming Union summit will therefore be the litmus test for verifying the results of the talks at the Elysée.
On two connected points – immigration e North Africa – Italy and France still have a lot to do to reach an understanding and common action. The migration issue is the real loose cannon of the Macron-Meloni relationship. This is due to the evident seriousness of the problem and because, in arriving in Italy, many migrants then hope to reach France. Hence the increase, which has been going on for years in spite of Schengen, of the French controls at the border. Hence also the attacks by some members of the Macronist government. 2022 ended with controversy over theOcean Vikinglanded in Toulon, and 2023 began with the criticisms of the French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, to Giorgia Meloni and her government. Macron’s problem is also internal politics: he fears that the improvement of Paris-Rome relations could favor a future “political customs clearance” of Marine Le Pen e del suo National Rally.
An inevitable friendship
As for relations with the countries of theMediterranean Africa – from Morocco to Egypt, passing through Algeria, Tunisia and Libya – there are frictions, different ambitions and sometimes conflicting hopes on the part of Italy and France. Today the urgency is that of Tunisia, a land that Paris sees with particular attention. Then there is Tripoli. In recent years efforts to normalize the Libya they have repeatedly seen the French choices irritate various Italian governments of various political persuasions. Faced with Tunisia and Libya, the two North African states from which migrants leave for Italy, Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni are still struggling to find (and sometimes even seek) a true understanding.
On the other “side” of the balance, the one in favor ofintensification of the Italian-French relationship, there is an enormously greater weight than that which rests on the “plate” of problems. There is the weight of commercial, financial, economic, scientific, cultural and above all human relations which intensify year after year regardless of the leaders who alternate in power. There is a role that the two countries have an interest in playing together in European institutions and international organizations. There are also people who, in the most delicate moments, have the will and the means to smooth the corners and encourage dialogue.
On 20 June, while Giorgia Meloni was traveling to Paris, the French Foreign Minister (and former ambassador in Rome) Catherine Colonna he was on TV talking about the reasons why France and Italy must go hand in hand. The President Mattarella took the opportunity of the inauguration of the (beautiful) exhibition “Naples at the Louvre” on 6-7 June to avoid the derapage of the controversies after Darmanin’s attacks on Italy. There are problems. The means to solve them as well.
Cover photo EPA/FILIPPO ATTILI / CHIGI PALACE PRESS OFFICE