No more names of birds that fuse on both sides of the Alps. With the departure of Matteo Salvini from the Italian government, Paris can hope for a rapprochement with Rome on migration issues. It is with this idea in mind that Emmanuel Macron goes to Rome on Wednesday evening to meet the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and the President of the Council Guiseppe Conte.
"Common Solutions"
The first signs are encouraging. Italy has reopened its ports to the landings of migrants, and the new Conte government, described as "pro-European" by Emmanuel Macron's entourage, wants to find a European solution on the subject. So it is a "stable, automatic, predictable mechanism of distribution of migrants" wanted on the French side, where we say "sure" "to find common solutions in the coming weeks".
Optimism is therefore in order, even if some points of friction remain: Rome wants for example a rotation in the ports of reception of the migrants. Paris prefers to date a landing in the nearest port. So there are still disagreements. But at least, says a minister, "the new Italian deal allows to resume the dialogue".