For decades, the was associated with political instability and successive short-lived governments, as opposed to the symbol of political stability and strong governments.
In the last year and a half, however, the picture has been reversed: France has been rocked by continuous political crises, following the result of the early parliamentary elections announced by the president in July 2024, which did not give autonomy to any party or to a coalition of parties, with the result that France, since then, has been governed by five different governments.
In contrast, Italy, which from autumn 2022 is governed by a far-right coalition led by the prime minister, is characterized by political stability, while Meloni’s party, the Brothers of Italy, a party with far-right origins, registers a 30% voter intention.
Italy is no longer France’s poor relative
Meloni feels justified in giving Italy its rightful place in Europe. Moreover, as for France, which despite its sympathy for the Italians, treated Italy as the poor relative, the Italian prime minister can claim that she now treats her as an equal. In the fiscal field, in 2025, the deficit in France (5.5% of GDP) was two and a half points higher than in Italy (3% of GDP).
International economic rating agencies upgraded Italy, while downgrading France. In foreign policy, while France continues its gradual withdrawal from Africa, Italy has launched an ambitious diplomatic strategy towards Africa, which combines promises of economic support to African countries with measures to limit immigration.
French sympathy and Italian antipathy
Although the majority of French people have positive feelings about Italians, the reverse is not true to the same extent. A survey by the polling institute Ipsos, which was presented on November 26, as part of the “French-Italian Dialogues on Europe” at the Luiss University in Rome, recorded that while 60% of French people have sympathy for Italy, only 30% of Italians reciprocate it, while 20% of Italians boldly declare that they dislike the French.
The reason is often attributed to the perception of French arrogance, despite the cultural proximity of the two peoples. “The Italian national narrative has cultivated a negative image of France since the 19th century, when the French leadership oscillated between supporting and undermining the unification of Italy,” explains Jean-Pierre Darny, a professor at the University of the Côte d’Azur who is in charge of the postgraduate program on Franco-Italian relations, in the French newspaper Le Monde.
“The long-standing pursuit of Italy, which as a state, was founded in 1861, to play a role in the international system, fueled a lasting sense of rivalry with France.”
The French often treat Italy as an idyllic, friendly country, overlooking the fact that it is Europe’s second largest industrial power. As for the Italians, many of them do feel that the French treat them as poor relatives. And Georgia Meloni, who comes from a nationalist political space with roots in fascism, sees France as a neighbor with often hostile intentions.
Her personal journey partly explains this attitude. In 2008, then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appointed Meloni to the Ministry of Youth, making her, at the age of 31, the youngest Italian minister in the country’s history. But in 2011 the Berlusconi government, which was derided by the then French president Nicolas Sarkozy, was forced by the fiscal crisis to give way to a technocratic government – a development which Italy saw as being imposed by Brussels (the EU) via Germany and France.
2025 closes for Italy with favorable omens: despite the tensions that its relations with France have experienced in the last three years, mainly due to migration flows from Africa, the two sides are preparing a bilateral meeting for the spring of 2026, with the aim of a new beginning.
Meanwhile, Georgia Meloni is boasting about her achievements as France tries to vote on the 2026 budget, aiming to avoid another government crisis.
