Macron hosts Meloni for Riviera talks as Italy's premier seeks to mend ties

French President Emmanuel Macron will host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday at the seaside resort of Antibes in an effort to smooth often tense bilateral relations. This marks the first bilateral summit between the two leaders since a strategic alliance treaty came into force in 2021, elevating ties to a level comparable to that between France and Germany.

According to the French presidency, the summit aims to deepen Franco-Italian cooperation in strategic sectors, particularly defense, nuclear energy, and space. The talks will take place at the Villa Eilenroc, a 19th-century residence overlooking the Mediterranean. “We need each other,” the presidency said ahead of the meeting.

Relations between Macron, a pro-European centrist, and Meloni, who leads a coalition of right-wing and far-right parties, have often been strained. However, both leaders have worked to ease tensions. In June last year, they held a lengthy one-on-one meeting in Rome. In April, Meloni arrived at the Élysée Palace in a red Alfa Romeo for a summit on securing the Strait of Hormuz. Macron greeted her with an enthusiastic double kiss that visibly caught her off guard; a viral video showed Meloni's surprise before both laughed it off.

Marc Lazar, an Italy specialist at Sciences Po in Paris, noted that Meloni and Macron will try to build on a nascent rapprochement despite lingering disagreements. “There will be photos, they'll kiss each other warmly on both cheeks, and she'll stop sulking when she sees Macron,” Lazar said. Meloni had long sought to position herself as a bridge between Europe and US President Donald Trump, but after the G7 summit in France, she distanced herself from Trump over what she called his “constant, unprovoked attacks.”

Macron and Meloni share common ground on some issues, including opposition to the EU's free trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc. However, they remain divided on others, such as Italy's push for migrant detention centers outside the EU. Unlike Macron, Meloni opposes sending Italian troops to Ukraine, even in a post-war scenario, to provide security guarantees to Kyiv.

On Thursday, the two countries are expected to sign a roadmap on defense, notably emphasizing the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense system delivered to Ukraine. A cooperation agreement on nuclear energy will also be signed, along with an agreement on a planned European satellite powerhouse to rival Elon Musk's Starlink.