We needed the final phase of the selections for Expo 2030, for which she is also a candidate Roma, to finally find an understanding. After eight months of conflicts, diplomatic crises, unofficial and official mending, but always outside an institutional headquarters, Giorgia Meloni will be received at the Elysée by Emmanuel Macron this afternoon. You will walk through the doors of the presidency of the French Republic after four official invitations from the Elysée, in the week in which Paris somehow catalyzes world attention, also with the International Air Show, with dozens of heads of state and government present in the French capital.
At the end of the official presentation in front of the Expo Committee to support the reasons for the Italian candidacy, alongside the governor of Lazio Francesco Rocca and the mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri, Giorgia Meloni will move to the Elysée. An appointment that only received a green light at the last minute. Giorgia Meloni convinced herself that she had to be present in Paris only in the last few hours, also because the possibility of withdrawing from the candidacy had not been excluded, which currently sees us behind compared to the chances of the Saudis, who appear in the lead by number of countries favorable to the Riyadh project. In the end, however, it was decided to go ahead, convinced that they had a good chance.
There are various issues to be addressed with Macron and the meeting is in some way the seal of the peace talks – after so many disagreements on the migrant dossier – which took place on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. Up to now Meloni and Macron have seen each other often, but have only had bilaterals in informal contexts. The first, the premier had not yet taken office in Palazzo Chigi, on the terrace of the Melia hotel in Rome, last autumn. Then a night meeting in Brussels, on the sidelines of a European Council, at the Amigò hotel. Finally, a few weeks ago, yet another face-to-face at the Palace hotel in Hiroshima, during breaks in the G7 meeting. Today’s could represent an opportunity for a new departure, even if some knots do not appear to have been resolved.
What is certain is that a common goal can be achieved on some dossiers, even in spite of a path towards next year’s European elections which can only be uphill, as Macron’s party and Meloni’s party have divergent interests. During the meeting, preceded by a statement to the press, the two will discuss bilateral relations, address European issues (including the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, with Italy seeking allies in its request to separate from the calculations investments of the Pnrr) and will take advantage of it to prepare the EU Council to be held at the end of the month. Council in which Meloni intends to once again bring the management of migratory flows to the fore, with the Tunisia case in the foreground after the EU mission ten days ago. The premier and Macron on 11 and 12 July in Vilnius will also discuss the next NATO summit to be held on 11 and 12 July in Vilnius, and will reaffirm their joint support for Ukraine on the military, humanitarian and economic fronts.
But the value of the visit is primarily symbolic. Macron was forced to invite Meloni after seeing both Bin Salman and the Korean president, Rome’s competitors for Expo, the Prime Minister for her part when she decided to fly to Paris (if she hadn’t done so, it would have meant withdrawing of the candidacy) willingly accepted the two hours in the afternoon that Macron was able to carve out.
The relationship between the two, between ups and downs, starts again from an apparently lateral issue such as Expo, in which Italy seeks a very difficult exploit (France has also sided with Riyadh), but which according to Palazzo Chigi is worth considering to stalk.