French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday in an effort to improve relations amid existing tensions between the two European leaders. The tensions stem from differing views on Ukraine, trade, and relations with the United States.
Macron, a staunch pro-European with a long-standing rapport with Donald Trump, contrasts with Meloni, a nationalist with a strong transatlantic inclination who appears more ideologically aligned with the U.S. president. They have advocated different, even competing, approaches to the new Trump era.
Meloni, whose country has a significant trade surplus with the U.S., has aimed to keep Europe aligned with the U.S., using the slogan “Make the West great again” during a meeting with Trump in Washington in April. Macron, on the other hand, has pushed for the EU to adopt a more independent stance.
Regarding the Russian war in Ukraine, Meloni has expressed skepticism about Macron’s “coalition of the willing” and a Franco-British plan proposed earlier this year to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement. Sending troops would be deeply unpopular in Italy.
Hostility has surfaced publicly in recent weeks, with officials close to Macron and Meloni privately or openly criticizing their respective initiatives concerning Ukraine or trade.
Meloni faced criticism in Italy for not joining Macron and the German, British, and Polish leaders on a trip to Kyiv on May 10 and for subsequently missing a call with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at a summit in Albania a few days later.
Read more: Macron Calls Gaza Humanitarian Crisis “Intolerable”.
After Meloni attributed her absence to the meetings being about sending troops to Ukraine, her government was reportedly angered when Macron publicly stated that the meetings were about a ceasefire and seemed to equate her justification with “Russian disinformation.”
French and Italian officials have indicated that Macron initiated Tuesday’s meeting and have downplayed talk of a rift, stating that the meeting and a working dinner would provide an opportunity for Macron to demonstrate “respect” and “friendship.”
“The president is available to all of our European partners, whatever the political persuasion may be,” an Elysee official told reporters.
The Elysee stated that the two leaders would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, the Mercosur trade deal, and U.S. tariffs, as well as industrial cooperation between the two countries, including Franco-Italian carmaker Stellantis, which appointed a new Italian chief executive last month.
Italian officials have said that the meeting is intended to “lay the foundations for a further strengthening of relations” and added that talks would also address the situation in the Middle East and Libya.
Both Italy and France are concerned that Russia might increase its presence in eastern Libya to maintain a foothold in the Mediterranean after Moscow’s ally, President Bashar al-Assad, was ousted in Syria in December.
“This Macron-Meloni meeting isn’t about rekindling Franco-Italian friendship. It’s about necessity, not nostalgia,” said Francesco Galietti of Rome-based consultancy Policy Sonar, adding that the two capitals should find common ground on Libya “fast.”
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