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Watch the squadron together: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Italian President Sergio Mattaralla and French President Emmanuell Macron (from left to right)
Photo: - / AFP
France and Italy want to deepen their cooperation. French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi signed a comprehensive bilateral agreement in Rome on Friday in the presence of Italian President Sergio Mattarella. The three men then hugged, while French and Italian squadrons sprayed smoke plumes in the national colors of the countries over the Italian capital.
The focus of the contract is increased cooperation in the areas of diplomacy and defense, digital and ecological change, culture and education, science and industry and space travel.
The contract is also intended to introduce a joint voluntary service for young people.
According to diplomats, it also provides for the mutual invitation of ministers to cabinet meetings based on the model of the Aachen Treaty.
Draghi called the ceremony "a historic moment in relations between our two countries."
The governments of both countries shared "the same republican values," "respect for human and civil rights," and "Europeanism," said the former President of the European Central Bank.
"A deep friendship"
For Macron, the contract seals “a deep friendship”.
It was "almost an anomaly" that such a contract did not exist before.
According to Macron, France and Italy unite "so many things": "our history, our culture, our artists."
Both countries want to stand up for a »more integrated, more democratic and sovereign Europe«, stressed the French President.
The agreement, known as the Quirinal Treaty after the place of signature, is modeled on the Elysée Treaty between France and Germany from 1963.
This was supplemented by the Treaty of Aachen in 2019.
Macron assured that after the departure of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), France was not looking for a "replacement" for the Franco-German friendship.
The Quirinal contract was announced in 2017.
However, negotiations soon came to a standstill after a populist government led by the five-star movement and the far-right Lega of Matteo Salvini came to power in Rome in 2018.
This was followed by one of the most serious diplomatic crises between Paris and Rome since World War II, in the course of which Salvini asked Macron to resign.
The agreement was finally completed under the Draghi government.
mrc / AFP