Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister and number two of Forza Italia (right), a minor partner in Giorgia Meloni's ultra-conservative coalition, received Ms Colonna at the Farnesina, headquarters of the Italian Foreign Ministry.

"Pleased to have welcomed Minister Colonna to the Farnesina. Italy and France share interests and responsibilities in the EU and in the world. Our collaboration is essential to resolve the current crises, starting with that of immigration," Tajani tweeted.

"We may have had divergent positions, but it is important to have a constructive dialogue (...) through the appropriate channels," Tajani said in a statement, referring to a "very cordial climate".

Catherine Colonna thanked him on Twitter for his "warm welcome".

"Confident exchanges on Ukraine, Tunisia, migration, European defence in particular. Franco-Italian cooperation is essential to move forward. Andiamo avanti insieme!" (Let's move forward together in Italian), she wrote.

Before her trip, Catherine Colonna, ambassador to Rome from 2014 to 2017, had assured that the France was "certainly" in crisis with its Italian neighbor.

Reactions were however sharp in the peninsula after the remarks on May 4 of the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, judging Giorgia Meloni "incapable of resolving the migratory problems on which she was elected".

Antonio Tajani then cancelled his meeting with Catherine Colonna, scheduled for the same day in Paris.

The Italian Coast Guard rescues a migrant boat on April 10, 2023 off the coast of Sicily © Handout / GUARDIA COSTIERA / AFP

Italy accuses its European partners of not taking their part in the reception of migrants who arrive on its territory after crossing the Mediterranean. Especially since, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, about half of the 46,000 people who have landed on its shores since the beginning of the year come from French-speaking countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Tunisia, Burkina Faso).

At the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik in mid-May, Macron admitted that the EU needed to do more to help Italy. "The Italian people as a country of first arrival are under very strong migratory pressure and we cannot leave Italy alone," the French president said.

Solidarity diplomacy

A trip by Giorgia Meloni to Paris in June is reportedly under consideration. "I think we're looking for dates, but that's still to be seen," Colonna said earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the two countries are working on a visit by Italian President Sergio Mattarella to the French capital on June 7 to inaugurate with Emmanuel Macron the exhibition at the Louvre of masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, an Italian source said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron during the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 20, 2023 © Ludovic MARIN / AFP/Archives

Despite the political differences between Mr. Macron, who poses as a European bulwark against nationalism, and Ms. Meloni, who defends a Christian Europe threatened with "migratory submersion", the French "have come to the conclusion that the Italian government (...) will stay there for a while and they have to talk to each other," said political scientist Franco Pavoncello, president of John Cabot University in Rome.

"Relations between Paris and Rome are too important to be frozen. With Britain's exit [from the EU] and given Germany's weight, these relations become even more important," he said.

A tragic circumstance, a diplomatic windfall: the deadly floods that ravaged Emilia-Romagna, a rich north-eastern region, last week allowed the France to give pledges of goodwill to its neighbour.

Responding to Rome's call, Paris announced the dispatch of pumping resources and personnel from military civil security formations. "Solidarity at work," Macron tweeted Tuesday.

Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni - very Atlanticist - are perfectly aligned on the most sensitive diplomatic and military issue, that of Ukraine, notes Franco Pavoncello.

"They want to break the ice. They are starting to talk to each other and understand that, for better or worse, they have common interests," he notes.

© 2023 AFP