Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is making very visible her monumental irritation with French President Emmanuel Macron for arranging a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a day before the summit in EU leaders in Brussels. For the second day in a row, the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party has charged against the Frenchman, whom she accuses of weakening European unity in the Ukrainian dossier with an “inappropriate” dinner.
“What was correct was the photograph of Zelensky with the 27 (European leaders). Anticipating that unity with a meeting in Paris was politically incorrect,” he said at a press conference at the end of the summit in Brussels, where he was able to meet with Zelenski along with the leaders of Spain, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands and Sweden. .
“Italy and its foreign policy have changed, it is no longer about patting yourself on the back and taking a picture, if we have something to say we say it, if we don’t like something we say it. In Paris there were two EU leaders, but the other 25 were not there and I simply said what I thought ”, she insisted. “Europe is not a club, there is no first and third class, otherwise we risk ending up like the Titanic.”
From the outset, the Italian Prime Minister’s entourage leaked their anger over the organization of this previous dinner, to which Italy was not invited, like the rest of the EU leaders. Macron was quick to respond that “France and Germany have a special role in supporting Ukraine,” adding that it was Zelensky who chose the format he preferred. France and Germany are key to Kyiv, the decisive countries that have more weapons to deliver to the Ukrainian cause, so Zelenski’s interest in meeting with his leaders was evident.
Meloni’s black day has been translated this Friday on the front pages of the largest Italian newspapers, which highlight the isolation of Rome in Brussels and the criticism of the opposition for the words of the premier. “When you attack the EU for years, then you are excluded,” said Stefano Bonaccini, the candidate to lead the Democratic Party. The comparison with the leading role that Mario Draghi had, who traveled to Kyiv in June with Macron and Scholz, is evident. Before the meeting of leaders, Meloni, who in the electoral campaign warned Europe that “the party” was over, sat down with his usual allies, the Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki and the Czech Petr Fiala.
The matter risks becoming one more stone in the already difficult relations between Meloni and Macron, which began with a serious crisis after France was forced to open its ports to the Ocean Viking ship of the French NGO SOS Mediterranée, rejected in Italy. They recently seemed to make peace with a phone call, but more than three months after taking office, Meloni has still not traveled to Paris, apparently due to a disagreement over dates.
The cordiality that Draghi and Macron had was a parenthesis in a long series of clashes between neighboring countries. During the first government of Giuseppe Conte, formed by the League and the 5 Star Movement, they went through their lowest hours, with the political leaders of the Executive constantly attacking the Élysée for all kinds of issues, especially immigration. Luigi Di Maio, then deputy prime minister, provoked a diplomatic crisis with his support for the yellow vests.
