"President Macron's invitation to Volodymyr Zelensky was ill-timed"
.
Giorgia Meloni's European day begins with the zeroing of attempts at rapprochement between Rome and Paris after the clash over migrants.
The move by the Franco-German club which, twelve hours before the European Council, brought the Ukrainian head of state to the banks of the Seine, at Palazzo Chigi did not exactly go down
.
And, they say in Brussels, it would have irritated other chancelleries as well.
But for Italy it is different.
It is a founding country, led by a leader who - although the arms decree is late in being born - has never questioned support for Ukraine.
In Rome, in fact, they do not point the finger at Kiev, but at Paris.
And Emmanuel Macron's response suggests that the tension will be slow to subside:
"For eight years, France and Germany have played a particular role" in the Ukrainian dossier,
was the dry response from the transalpine president to those who asked him about the words of his Italian colleague.
Here it is, the official motivation on the basis of which the Elysium has excluded Italy.
Not a little complicating Meloni's mission also because the bilateral announced by Palazzo Chigi on the sidelines of the 27 summit did not take place.
Times were tight, so the EU Council opted to organize
meetings, lasting about 30 minutes, between Zelensky and groups of leaders of six or seven.
With Italy in the first group, together with Spain, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the Netherlands
.
At the end of the meeting, Zelensky and Meloni had the opportunity to talk face to face.
Not an official bilateral, like the one organized shortly after by the Ukrainian head of state with the Pole Mateusz Morawiecki, but a standing conversation, in the room used for collective meetings.
Beyond the form, there was also substance in the little more than ten minutes of conversation.
In fact, the Ukrainian president allegedly asked Meloni for instruments for the defense of civilians.
"We are verifying the possibility of sending specific types of defense to Kiev", confirmed Defense Minister Guido Crosetto.
It is no secret that Kiev has long been waiting for the delivery of the Samp/T anti-missile system, which should arrive in the spring.
However, the Meloni-Zelensky talk does not cancel the new clash with France.
A political clash, rather than a diplomatic one.
It is no coincidence that the prime minister, in addition to underlining that the Elysée move risks undermining "European unity", referred to Macron's internal political problems, between "strikes and pension reform".
On the other hand, there is the allergy of the leader of En Marche to the sovereign forces, at home and in Europe.
The clash could have multiple effects.
If on the migrant front a certain general convergence is being reached, on the state aid dossier France and Germany, once again, have done it alone by flying to Washington.
And causing the irritation of the Mef, probably only tempered with the phone call made by Bruno Le Maire to Adolfo Urso just as the Macron-Meloni question and answer was raging in Brussels.
With regard to the EU industrial plan, Italy is aiming for a common sovereign fund, full flexibility - even over time - on Pnrr funds and a Stability Pact that does not penalize those who have more debt.
These are the government's conditions for the yes to the new state aid regime which would especially benefit France and Germany.
The impression is that tensions will continue.
If the oppositions in Italy have shouted at the isolation of the Meloni government, Minister Roberto Calderoli has defined Macron as a "rooster at all costs", while Matteo Salvini has warned: "It is not smart for Paris to exclude us", evoking the Italian dossier - French who, in the coming weeks, could get complicated.
Macron and Meloni had no contact for the whole day.
While waiting for the photo-op with Zelensky and the 27, the two barely touched: Meloni spoke with the president of the EP Roberta Metsola and the Luxembourgian Xavier Bettel.
The head of the Elysium was there but only spoke to the bottom two.
Between him and the prime minister it was as if there was an invisible barrier.
ANSA Agency
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