“Italy remains a very important partner for France and exchanges between Paris and Rome continue at all levels”: sources from the Elysée thus respond to a question about a possible meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni after the controversy following the statements by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on the management of immigration by the Italian government. «The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron will most likely have the opportunity to meet Giorgia Meloni next week, at various times, in Reykjavík but also in the context of the G7 summit» the sources continue in Paris.
The presidential sources stressed that between Meloni and Macron there “will certainly be exchanges” between the summit of the Council of Europe scheduled in Reykjavik, Iceland, on 16 and 17 May and the G7 scheduled in Japan from 19 to 21 May. As for the rumors about a possible official visit by Meloni to France next June, sources close to the French president reply that in this regard “there are no confirmed dates”. Reykjavik will be the fourth summit in the history of the Council of Europe. According to the Elysée, the meeting will be an opportunity for the 46 member states of the body (Russia was excluded last year following the invasion of Ukraine) to “send a message of support and unity” to Kiev but also “to recall the link to the principles and values of the Council of Europe: democracy, the rule of law and human rights”. The Strasbourg body represents a “form of incarnation of the conscience of Europe”, they continue in Paris, insisting, among other things, on the importance of the Istanbul Convention, the first legally binding international instrument for the prevention and contrast of violence against women and domestic violence.