Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and France鈥檚 president Emmanuel Macron will aim to reconcile their difference in talks in Rome on Tuesday, with both sides seeking to cope with US tariffs and the conflict in Ukraine.
The European rivals are meeting in the Italian capital from 1800 GMT for talks and then dinner, an encounter Macron said he had initiated.
The centrist president and nationalist far-right Meloni are not natural political allies.
But as the leaders of the EU鈥檚 second and third-largest economies, they face similar challenges in the Ukraine war and US president Donald Trump鈥檚 sweeping tariffs against the bloc.
Meloni on Friday acknowledged 鈥榙ivergences鈥� with Macron but denied she had any 鈥榩ersonal problems鈥� with him, and said she was 鈥榲ery happy鈥� with the visit.
An Italian government source said Rome and Paris hoped to 鈥榣ay the foundations for a further strengthening of relations鈥� between two nations 鈥榦n the front line of the various fronts of international politics鈥�.
Macron鈥檚 office said Italy was 鈥榓n important partner鈥� with 鈥榓 crucial role to play in European decisions鈥�, particularly in the Ukrainian conflict.
Despite their political rivalry, the French presidency said the two leaders were showing they were 鈥榗apable of moving forward together on the essentials鈥�.
Their cooperation has been sorely tested by Trump, with the pair disagreeing over how to deal with the US president on both tariffs and Ukraine.
Meloni and Macron have and 鈥榰ndeniable rivalry鈥�, said Marc Lazar, a professor at Sciences Po university in Paris.
He said the pair were following different strategies with Meloni seeking 鈥榤ediation and compromise鈥� with the US president and Macron favouring 鈥榰nwavering firmness鈥�.
Rome 鈥榖elieves that because it is ideologically close to the US administration it will be able to force it to back down on trade tariffs鈥�, he said.
But while Paris says it has 鈥榬espect鈥� for those who can 鈥榤aintain the best possible relationship with president Trump鈥�, it insists trade negotiations are the responsibility of the European Commission 鈥� effectively side-lining Meloni as a would-be mediator.
On Ukraine, Macron presents himself as the EU鈥檚 go-to man on the issue, speaking to Trump regularly and invoking the relationship developed during the billionaire鈥檚 first term.
And he has seriously ruffled feathers in Rome with his attempts to put together a 鈥榗oalition of the willing鈥� ready to provide 鈥榮ecurity guarantees鈥� to Ukraine.
In recent weeks, the French president鈥檚 meetings on the Russian invasion with the British, German and Polish leaders 鈥� but without Meloni 鈥� have ratcheted up tensions.
Paris says that 鈥榖etween Europeans, the issue of formats must be arranged to achieve the best impact we can under the circumstances鈥�.
It says that Italy has always insisted the US take part.
But Lazar notes that as a nuclear power with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, France sees itself as less dependent on the United States.
The mood was not helped when an adviser to Macron dismissed Italy鈥檚 proposal to grant Ukraine protection under Article 5 of the NATO treaty without Kyiv joining the military alliance itself.
The article stipulates that if one member is attacked all the others must act as if they too were attacked.
While that idea 鈥榙eserves discussion鈥�, it would in practice be very hard to implement, Lazar said, not least 鈥榖ecause if the Trump administration refuses Ukraine鈥檚 accession, it is precisely because it does not want to implement Article 5 for Ukraine鈥檚 benefit鈥�.
