Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday in Rome. The aim of their meeting is to mitigate the tensions between the two countries and to cooperate to solve common challenges, especially American duties and war in Ukraine. This was reported by Reuters and France24, writes TASR.
Although Meloni as a representative of the far right and centrist Macron politically are not one of the natural allies, as leaders of the second and third largest economy in the EU, they face the same crisis: the consequence of the war in Ukraine and duties introduced by US President Donald Trump. According to a source from the Italian government, Rome and Paris want to “lay the foundations for further strengthening mutual relations.”
Although Meloni admitted some differences in her opinions last Friday, she denied the media’s guessing about her antipathy to Macron. Reuters said that Despite the political rivalry, both leaders show the ability to “move on fundamental issues forward and together”.
According to Professor Marc Lazarus from Sciences University after in Paris between Meloni and Macron is “Inadmissible rivalry”: While Meloni sides for “mediation and compromise” with the US, Macron prefers “hardness”.
Rome also believes that his ideological proximity to the current American administration will allow him to achieve concessions in the area of tariffs. Paris, in turn, emphasizes that business negotiations are in jurisdiction of the European Commission, thus It excludes Meloni as an intermediary in contacts with the US.
On Ukraine, Macron presents himself as the main European negotiator, regularly communicates with Trump and refers to the relationship he has built with him during his first term.
However, his attempt to create a coalition willing to ensure guarantees for Ukraine in Rome caused displeasure – especially because Italy was not invited to these interviews. France claims that “Within Europe, formats must be adapted according to circumstances”, recalling that Italy has always taken the US participation.
In this context, Lazar points out that France, as a nuclear power with a permanent UN Security Council, feels less dependent on the US. Reuters recalls that the tension between Rome and Paris has ever increased after Macron’s advisor refused to grant the Italian proposal to Ukraine protection under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty without becoming a member of the Alliance. This article assumes that if one member is attacked, everyone else is responding as if they were attacked as well.
According to Lazarus This proposal is “worth discussing” but its implementation would be very complex – Especially because Trump’s administration refuses to enter Ukraine into NATO precisely because he does not want to be bound by this article.
