EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Catherine Colonna, here at the Élysée Palace in Paris, May 16, 2023.
ITALY – End of the diplomatic row? The head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, met her Italian counterpart in Rome this Thursday, May 25, to document the thawing between the two countries following tensions over immigration.
Catherine Colonna had a working lunch at the Farnesina, home of Italy’s foreign ministry, with Antonio Tajani, deputy prime minister and number two of Forza Italia (right), a small partner in Giorgia Meloni’s ultra-conservative coalition.
“Thank you for your warm welcome in Rome, dear Antonio Tajani. Confident exchanges about Ukraine, Tunisia, migrations and especially European defense. Franco-Italian cooperation is essential for progress,” the French minister tweeted in the afternoon.
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“I am delighted to have welcomed Minister Colonna to the Farnesina. Italy and France share interests and responsibilities in the EU and in the world. Our cooperation is essential to resolve the current crises, starting with immigration,” tweeted Antonio Tajani. “We may have had different points of view, but it is important to conduct a constructive dialogue (…) through the appropriate channels,” he emphasized in a press release, invoking a “very cordial climate”.
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Ahead of her trip, Catherine Colonna, ambassador to Rome from 2014 to 2017, had assured that France was “certainly not” in a crisis with its Italian neighbor.
However, reactions in the peninsula were fierce after French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on May 4 that Giorgia Meloni was “unable to solve the migration problems that prompted her election”. Antonio Tajani then canceled his meeting with Catherine Colonna, which was scheduled for the same day in Paris.
“It is true that there was a moment of hesitation and astonishment at the comments that were made,” admitted Catherine Colonna on the France 2 channel this week. She adds.
A possible trip by Giorgia Meloni to Paris in June
Italy has criticized its European partners for not taking part in receiving migrants who arrive on its territory after crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Especially since, according to the Interior Ministry, around half of the 46,000 people who have landed on its coasts since the beginning of the year come from French-speaking countries (Ivory Coast, Guinea, Tunisia, Burkina Faso). .
Speaking at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik in mid-May, Emmanuel Macron conceded that the EU should do more to help Italy. “The Italian people, as a first-time arrival country, are under very strong migratory pressure and we cannot leave Italy alone,” said the French President.
Antonio Tajani indicated that he would raise “the issue of cooperation against illegal immigration, but also the stabilization of Africa” with his French counterpart. These actions must be “collective and shared,” he said, quoted by the agency Ansa.
A trip by Giorgia Meloni to Paris in June is being planned. “I think we’re looking at dates, but that remains to be seen,” Catherine Colonna said.
Meanwhile, the two countries are preparing for a visit by Italian President Sergio Matterella to the French capital on June 7 to join Emmanuel Macron to inaugurate the Louvre exhibition at the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, a source told the Quirinale.
Tragic circumstance, diplomatic blessing: The deadly floods that devastated Emilia-Romagna, a wealthy region in the northeast, last week allowed France to make pledges of goodwill to its neighbor.
In response to the call from Rome, Paris announced the deployment of pumping resources and personnel from military-civilian security formations. “Solidarity at work,” Emmanuel Macron tweeted on Tuesday.
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