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00:00 Clovis Casali standing by at the Elysee Palace.
00:03 We can speak to him now.
00:04 Hello to you, Clovis.
00:06 This is Meloni's first visit to Paris since coming to power last year.
00:09 It comes at a difficult time after a series of disputes.
00:16 Difficult is clearly the word for President Emmanuel Macron.
00:20 Clearly it's about maybe mending the relationship with Italy or at least bridge differences
00:26 with Italy and with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
00:31 These two politicians are the same generation but they are very different personalities.
00:36 On the one hand you've got Emmanuel Macron seen as centrist, progressive, pro-European
00:41 especially and then on the other hand Giorgia Meloni seen as far-right or at least ultra-conservative,
00:48 anti-European.
00:50 It's no secret that they don't have the best relations.
00:53 President Emmanuel Macron got on much better with her predecessor Mario Draghi and then
00:59 you had that incident back in May when the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin
01:05 basically said that what Giorgia Meloni had promised during her campaign, anti-immigration
01:11 policies clearly didn't work, that she clearly could not apply them in the light of what's
01:17 been happening in recent days.
01:20 That sparked an angry reaction from the Italian Foreign Minister saying those remarks were
01:26 unacceptable.
01:27 And that Foreign Minister actually cancelled his visit to France.
01:33 Italy particularly angry by those comments.
01:36 Italy that has seen tens of thousands of migrants arrive on its shores this year, a lot more,
01:43 at least four times more than in 2022.
01:46 And then you've also got points where Italy and France are very close, notably regarding
01:52 Ukraine, same position, they stand behind Ukraine against Russia and also with strong
01:58 business ties between Italy and France.
02:02 So there are not only differences between Italy and France.
02:05 Yeah, and Meloni also trying to win some support for Italy hosting the World's Fair Expo 2030.
02:10 Indeed, and it's been interesting to see that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
02:17 from Saudi Arabia came here to Paris and then you had the South Korean president and now
02:23 Giorgia Meloni from Italy.
02:25 Why?
02:26 Because those three countries are looking to win the bid to host the 2030 Universal
02:33 Exhibition.
02:35 And Macron doesn't have a particular word to say in this, but the offices of the organization
02:42 are here in Paris.
02:43 The vote will be taking place in November.
02:46 It's an intergovernmental agency.
02:48 You've got 179 member states voting, but hosting the Universal Exhibition is important.
02:57 Back in the last edition in Dubai, well, there were 24 million visitors.
03:01 So what does that mean?
03:02 It means it attracts visitors, it attracts business, it attracts money.
03:06 And that's why those three nations, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Italy, are looking to
03:11 host the event.
03:13 And just to finish, I can tell you that South Korea has been campaigning also because here
03:16 in Paris you've got taxis with written "Busan 2013".
03:21 So campaigning on the streets also.
03:23 All right, Clovis.
03:24 Thank you very much.
03:25 Clovis Casale reporting from the Elysee.