Emmanuel Macron and the Georgia Meloni expressed today their intention to “work together” after “controversies”, mainly on the thorny issue of immigration which has so far strained their relations.

In this first visit to Paris by the Italian prime minister, the French president invoked “this very unique relationship that exists between Italy and France”. “This friendship is what I am primarily interested in”, “the one that sometimes allows confrontations, disagreements but always in a context of respect, because it is part of a history bigger than us, deeper, that gave food to our imagination, to our artists, in collective adventures”, he added in front of journalists. And he called for an “honest, ambitious, demanding dialogue” between Paris and Rome.

“Italy and France are two nations that are connected, two nations that are important, central, protagonists in Europe that need dialogue at a time like this, as our common interests converge a lot,” Meloni replied. “I am optimistic that from today’s dialogue, we will be able to work even better and even more together.”

The two leaders spoke about immigration in order to show that cooperation is possible.

“We continue to experience dramas in the Mediterranean,” Macron said. “The coordination and good work between our two countries must continue”, “we must be able to organize asylum and migration flows in Europe more effectively while staying true to our values”, added Macron to his interlocutor, addressing “Dear Georgia”.

Next to him, Meloni supported her very tough positions on this matter, insisting on the need to continue “working together both bilaterally and multilaterally”.

“Despite the political and ideological differences between the two governments, both Meloni and Macron realize that France and Italy must act together. This is in the interests of both countries,” historian Marc Lazare told AFP. , professor at Sciences-Po.

– “Differences” as far as Europe is concerned –

According to Lazar, there are “real convergences” on the war in Ukraine and the renegotiation of the European fiscal stability pact, ahead of the European Council at the end of June and the NATO summit on July 11-12 in Vilnius.

Since coming to power, Meloni has indeed appeared very committed to supporting Kiev and very measured against Brussels.

Ukraine’s joint support was confirmed today, the day after Macron announced the fielding of a Franco-Italian SAMP/T surface-to-air missile system.

From now until the European elections in June 2024 “confrontations will not be lacking between the Italian right and Macron’s party” as the two sides have “deep differences over the future of Europe”, which “risks having an impact on normalization of relationships,” warns historian Mark Lazar, however.