Meloni meets Merz, Carney and Aoun: meetings on strategic dossiers

"Today at Palazzo Chigi, a day of meetings and work on strategic dossiers for Italy. Forward with determination". This is what Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X in a post published together with the video of the meetings with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The "harmony" with the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz cannot overshadow the 'frostiness' between Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron, whose relations are probably at their lowest point since the Prime Minister has been in office. Yesterday, after the meeting of the 'willing' on the sidelines of the CPE in Tirana, the Prime Minister justified her absence by saying that "Italy has long declared that it is not available to send troops to Ukraine" and therefore "it would not make sense for us to participate in formats that have objectives for which we have not declared our availability". The French President, however, 'denied' her, saying that there had been no talk of sending soldiers, inviting her to "avoid fake news, Russian ones are enough". Harsh words, to which the Prime Minister responded today during statements to the press after the meeting with the Chancellor at Palazzo Chigi. "It is necessary to abandon a little the personalisms that risk undermining the unity of the West, which is essential to resolve the conflict" in Ukraine, the dig - euphemism - at the tenant of the Elysée. To whom he then attributes (it is the 'spin' that has been going around Palazzo Chigi since yesterday) a step back on the project of the European peace force. "From Macron's words I can only take note of the fact that the sending of troops is no longer a topic of discussion" and therefore "we are available to participate in any format to achieve the goal of a just and lasting peace". On the subject Merz does a balancing act. He assures that "there is no decision, there is no discussion on the question of sending European Union or NATO troops to Ukraine" and that "Italy must play a role". However, he assures, "we want to change the format of the willing".

The two leaders underlined the "strategic" relationship that will lead to a new intergovernmental summit in early 2026, to be hosted in Italy. "It was a very open, cordial, operational, concrete meeting that I believe represents the most effective denial of an alleged lack of interest of the new German government in the relationship with Italy", Meloni underlined. While the Chancellor assured that the rumours reported by 'Die Welt' regarding an alleged veto of the SPD towards Italy as a strategic partner are "wrong": "At no time was there a discussion on the role of Italy" which is "an important partner" and "I say this not only for myself, but for the entire German government".

On international issues, Italy and Germany are aligned on the Ukrainian issue. "We talked about joint efforts to reach a just and lasting peace," Meloni said. "If today the conditions exist for peace talks to take place, it is thanks to the tenacity of the Ukrainian people but also to the support of the West. There was no Zelensky-Putin meeting in Istanbul but it is still positive that the delegations met, thanks also to the action of Turkey and America. We hope that this is a first timid step in a process towards a just and lasting peace that takes into account the necessary security guarantees for the attacked nation." On the Middle East, she stressed, "precisely because we are friends of Israel we cannot remain indifferent to what is happening in Gaza, where the situation is increasingly difficult and dramatic. We ask for a cessation of hostilities, there must be no ambiguity on the release of the hostages and on the fact that there is no future for the presence of Hamas in the Strip or in a future Palestinian state."

A topic on which Meloni and Merz are close is that of migrants: "I find great harmony with Chancellor Merz and I really think that we will work very well together to consolidate that change of approach that has taken hold in recent years in Europe and that considers the fight against human traffickers, the defense of external borders, respect for the law, the strengthening of repatriations and a new, equal cooperation, a new model of cooperation with African countries, with countries of origin, with transit countries, as a priority". Germany has also said it is interested in participating in the meetings of the group of so-called 'like minded' countries on the issue (promoted by Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands) that meet before the European Councils, "to address the great migration issue also with innovative solutions such as our protocol with Albania".

Meloni, who today also received Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, will be at the enthronement ceremony of Pope Leo XIV tomorrow morning. And it is not excluded that she may have other meetings during the day, perhaps even with American Vice President JD Vance.