Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Two weeks ago, it was announced that a visit that was supposed to be paid by the Italian Foreign Minister to Paris was canceled due to statements made by the French government that Rome considered unacceptable and related to the Italian handling of the immigrant file, but after meetings that took place at the highest level between the two countries at the Hiroshima summit of state leaders. The French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, is heading to Rome today, Thursday, at the invitation of her Italian counterpart, Antonio Taiani, and is scheduled to discuss with him the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the Quirinale Treaty of bilateral cooperation, which entered into force on February 1, she said. French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Wednesday.
At a time when Italy is facing floods that hit the north of the country, especially in Emilia-Romagna, and caused great damage, Colonna will reaffirm the solidarity of France, which sends means and water pumping equipment to meet the needs requested by the Italian government.
These talks will also be an opportunity for the ministers to emphasize the European unity to support Ukraine, in all fields and in the long term, a few days after the visit of the Ukrainian President to the two countries. The ministers will also discuss ongoing work within the European framework, with the aim of boosting the production of ammunition that Ukraine needs to defend itself.
Preparations for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, which will be held in Vilnius (the capital of Lithuania) on July 11 and 12, will also be discussed, and integration between NATO and the efforts made by the European Union in the field of security and defense will be discussed.
Likewise, the talks will deal with ways to better deal with the migration crisis across the Mediterranean, which Italy suffers from as the first destination for migrants, which leads to other flows. The two officials will stress - as the French President and the Italian Prime Minister mentioned during their meetings in Reykjavik and Hiroshima - the need for cooperation between the two countries in this regard.
It is noteworthy that the European divisions regarding dealing with the issue of immigration and asylum surface from time to time, despite the attempts of the European Union institutions to bridge the views of the member states in light of the clear divergence of positions.
The matter reached a verbal exchange between officials in more than one of the member states, exchanging accusations of failure and negligence in dealing with matters related to receiving illegal immigrants or dealing with their files.
And according to what news agencies reported on the fifth of this month, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Taiani canceled his visit to Paris after statements by the French Interior Minister that Rome considered "unacceptable", in which the French minister stressed the inability of the Italian Prime Minister to solve the immigration problem in her country.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan considered that Meloni was "incapable of solving immigration problems" in her country, which is witnessing the arrival of record numbers of migrants across the Mediterranean.
His words came in response to a question about the positions of the head of the French far-right National Rally Party, Jordan Bardella, regarding the immigration file at the border between the two countries, where the French security forces return migrants who want to cross into their lands.
"Mrs. Meloni, the far-right government chosen by Ms. (Marine) Le Pen's friends, is unable to solve immigration problems after she was elected on this basis," Darmanin told RMC radio.
He added, “Yes, there is an influx of migrants, especially minors,” to southern France, blaming Italy for that by saying, “The truth is that in Tunisia (...) there is a political situation that pushes a large number of children to cross through Italy, and that Italy is helpless (... ) about dealing with this pressure from immigrants."
Rome responded quickly to these statements, with the Italian Foreign Minister canceling the meeting that was scheduled in Paris with his counterpart, Catherine Colonna.
"I will not go to Paris to participate in the meeting that was scheduled with Minister Colonna," Taiani wrote on Twitter, noting that "Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin's insults against the government and Italy are unacceptable."