PARIS, Technical trials of thawing between France and Italy. After the recent bilateral tensions, this morning the Foreign Minister of Paris, Catherine Colonna announced that on Thursday she will be in Rome at the invitation of her counterpart, Antonio Tajani. The trip comes while trying to mend the rift that occurred due to the attack on Giorgia Meloni launched by the French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who in early May defined the premier as “incapable” of managing migratory flows. Words that led Tajani to cancel the visit to Paris, where he was supposed to meet Colonna for their first interview.
The criticisms then continued in the following days again from the mouth of Darmanin, but also from Stéphane Sejourné, secretary of Renaissance, President Macron’s party. But now France seems to want to overcome friction, as seen last weekend at the G7 in Hiroshima, where Macron and Meloni had a 45-minute talk that went “good” according to what the premier reported at the end.
“It’s true, there was a moment of vacillation, of amazement at the statements that were made. We have explained ourselves ever since,” the head of French diplomacy told France 2. However, when asked about the apologies presented by the France at the request of Italy, Colonna’s comment was lapidary: “Certainly not”. The minister preferred to underline the “common interests” of the two countries in the fight against immigration. “Italy is in fact facing strong migratory pressure that essentially passes through the Mediterranean and therefore we want to have good, if not better cooperation with Italy because we need to fight against these flows, prevent departures”. , Colonna recalled the importance of acting within a European framework with the reform of the European Asylum and Migration Pact There is a “European migration policy that is being drawn up”, said the tenant of the Quai d’Orsay .
The relaunch of bilateral relations should lead to a visit by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Paris for a meeting with President Emanuel Macron, who has been put on standby in recent weeks. Colonna has not ruled out a meeting for the month of June, even if at the moment Palazzo Chigi and the Elysium are looking for “dates but they are to be confirmed”.