Mattarella’s mission to bring France and Italy closer together, between immigration and Da Vinci

Italians and French need each other, even if they seem destined not to understand each other. Certainly the authority of the Italian head of state will contribute to restoring relations to a framework of desirable cordiality. But to go further, a form of explicit alliance between Meloni and Macron is needed, which today is anything but obvious

The visit of Sergio Mattarella in Paris takes us back four years. In May 2019, the President of the Italian Republic had responded positively to the invitation from Emmanuel Macron to preside over the ceremony for the anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death. A trip that was also a diplomatic move to tone down the tone between Paris and Rome, after the serious crisis that began in 2018. Even today, relations between the French and Italian governments have loosened up a lot, and Sergio Mattarella is returning to France to mend.