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An hour and twenty minutes of conversation, without delegations, with the topic of migrants at the centre. This is how the face-to-face meeting between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the head of the Elysée Emmanuel Macron went, which was held at Palazzo Chigi after both had attended the state funeral for the President Emeritus of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano. On the table, in addition to the complicated migrant dossier, are also the other “main international issues”, Palazzo Chigi said (MIGRANTS, THE SPECIAL OF SKY TG24). Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini said that Meloni will report on the meeting “tomorrow in the Council of Ministers”. The prime minister and Macron reached the government headquarters on foot, after leaving the chamber of the Chamber of Deputies for Napolitano’s funeral, crossing first Piazza Montecitorio and then Piazza Colonna.
Europe’s “economic priorities” are also on the table
Palazzo Chigi spoke of “a long and cordial meeting” between Macron and Meloni, specifying that European economic priorities were also discussed in view of the Med 9 Summit on Friday in Malta and the informal European Council next week in Granada.
The migrant question
Not much has transpired about what Meloni and Macron said to each other, therefore. In recent days the French president has expressed himself several times on the need to help Italy in managing migrants, without “welcoming all the misery of the world”, asking – like Rome – also for Brussels to do more for an integrated approach involving European institutions and states. The Prime Minister appeared satisfied but cautious: “I welcome with great interest the proposal for collaboration from French President Emmanuel Macron on the subject of combating illegal immigration”. Meanwhile, tensions with Germany remain high. “I learned with amazement that your government – in a manner not coordinated with the Italian government – would have decided to support with significant funds non-governmental organizations involved in welcoming irregular migrants on Italian territory and in rescues in the Mediterranean Sea. Both possibilities raise questions,” Meloni wrote in a letter to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Berlin said that “the letter will be answered”.
Source-tg24.sky.it