ANTIBES, France (AFP) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, fresh from a spat with US leader Donald Trump, met French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to build an initial rapprochement and strengthen ties.
One of Europe’s most prominent right-wing leaders arrived in the French Riviera resort of Antibes for her first bilateral summit with Macron.
The talks marked the first Franco-Italian summit since a treaty on a strategic alliance came into force in 2021, raising relations to a level comparable to that between France and Germany.
Smiling broadly, the two leaders exchanged kisses and briefly held hands as the French host welcomed Melon outside the Picasso Museum in Antibes.
“Come, come,” Macron called as he took Meloni on a private tour of the museum.
The French presidency said the summit would be an opportunity to deepen cooperation in strategic sectors such as defense, nuclear energy and space.
“We need each other,” Elysee said before talks at Villa Eilenroc, a dazzling 19th-century mansion overlooking the Mediterranean.
Relations have often been strained between Macron, a pro-European centrist, and Meloni, who leads a coalition of right-wing and far-right parties.
But while the leaders of the European Union’s second- and third-largest economies are far from natural allies, they have worked to ease tensions, notably during a lengthy one-on-one meeting in Rome last June.
In April, as leaders gathered in Paris for a summit on securing the Strait of Hormuz, Meloni arrived at the Elysee in a red Alfa Romeo. Macron greeted the Italian leader with an enthusiastic double kiss that seemed to catch her by surprise.
A video that went viral showed Meloni visibly taken aback before the two burst out laughing.
“Asymmetry”
Marc Lazar, an Italy specialist at Sciences Po in Paris, said Meloni and Macron would try to build on a tentative rapprochement, despite the differences.
Meloni had long sought to position himself as a bridge between Europe and Trump.
But after a G7 summit in France, Meloni distanced herself from the US leader over what she called his “continuous and unprovoked attacks”.
“This can only please Emmanuel Macron,” added Lazar.
Sergio Fabbrini, a political science lecturer at Rome’s Luiss University, said Meloni had used her relationship with Trump “to weaken the European Union”.
“Now she finds herself without Trump and is forced to return to the European Union, especially in terms of defense,” he said.
Fabbrini said that Macron was strong at the European level, but weak at home.
In contrast, “The melon is very strong domestically, but weak at the European level. This asymmetry makes the meeting difficult and complicated.”
Macron and Meloni share common ground on several issues, including opposition to the European Union’s free trade deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc.
But they remain divided on others, such as Italy’s push for migrant detention centers outside the European Union.
Unlike Macron, Meloni opposes sending Italian troops to Ukraine, even in a post-war scenario, to provide security guarantees to Kiev.
On Thursday, the two countries were expected to sign a defense roadmap, highlighting in particular the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense system delivered to Ukraine.
A cooperation agreement would also be signed on nuclear power along with another on the planned European satellite plant to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink.
With the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, “space has become absolutely central to the military,” Herve Derrey, chief executive of Thales Alenia Space, said during a Franco-Italian economic forum in the nearby town of Le Cannet.
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By VALERIE LEROUX with FANNY CARRIER in Le Cannet, Agence France-Presse
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