Diplomacy: Sign of approach: Meloni receives Macron in Rome

With a firm handshake, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni received France President Emmanuel Macron in Rome – a meeting that many evaluated as a sign of diplomatic approach. After a three -hour conversation, both said that “unshakable” support from Ukraine was all the more necessary to achieve a “fair and permanent solution”. At the same time, an “ambitious change of scale in European defense” is necessary, the joint press release said.

European cooperation in the areas of migration and the situation in the Middle East was also discussed. The next bilateral meeting should only take place in France in early 2026.

Political thaw, but the tensions remain

The meeting in the Italian seat of Palazzo Chigi was considered a diplomatic restart between Paris and Rome – even if both sides emphasized that there was never an ice age. There are many things in common, but also differences, said the party leader of the right -wing party Fratelli d’Italia (Italy’s brothers) last week. It is important that one speaks, even with disagreements. From the Élysée Palace it was said several times that Italy was an important partner. Meloni is by no means outlawed.

The ratio of the two finally seemed tense. In Rome, Macron’s Kiev trip with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the British Prime Minister Keir Karrmer made up for upset – Meloni was not there. In the “coalition of the willing” initiated by Macron to support Ukraine after a ceasefire, the positions differ strictly: Italy strictly rejects troops.

The strategies of the two heads of government also differ in attitude to the American President Donald Trump: Rome relies on closeness and mediation, Paris on European independence.