France's Barnier, Italy's Tajani, meet to bolster cooperation against illegal migration

By Angelo Amante and Michel Rose

PARIS/ROME (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Michel Barnier and Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani will meet at the border between the two countries on Friday in a bid to bolster cooperation against illegal immigration.

There have been tensions, and much criticism, between the two neighbours, both European Union members, over the past years over the politically sensitive issue of immigration.

But at a time when France and Italy are among countries pushing the European Union to toughen its stance on immigration, the existing good relations between France's new prime minister and Italy's Tajani could help turn the page, officials said.

"They were European commissioners together and then while Barnier was Brexit negotiator, Tajani was president of the European Parliament," an Italian official said.

"A few days ago Barnier called Tajani and said let's give a signal of cooperation on the migration ground," the official said. "Let's meet at the border in a way that we signal collaboration on the control of illegal immigration."

In 2023, Tajani had cancelled a trip to France after what the government of far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called insults from France's previous interior minister Gerald Darmanin, who had said Meloni had been "unable to solve the migration problems on which she was elected."

France's new minority government of conservative Prime Minister Barnier, which depends on the far-right National Rally to survive, has cited the fight against illegal immigration as one of its top priorities, and Barnier is keen to work with other European leaders on this issue, whatever their political colours, French government officials told Reuters.

The visit to the Italian border also shows Barnier intends to have a say on European matters and is not willing to leave it to President Emmanuel Macron.

Barnier, Tajani and their interior ministers will meet in Menton, on the French side of the border at around 1300 (1100 GMT) before heading to the Italian side.

Immigration is a highly sensitive topic in most of the bloc's 27 member states, even though irregular migrants arriving in Europe last year were a third of the 1 million seen during the crisis in 2015, and numbers fell further this year.

EU leaders agreed at summit on Thursday to use all their leverage, including trade, development aid and visa policy, to speed up returns of migrants illegally entering the bloc.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome and Michel Rose in Paris, additional reporting by Layli Foroudi; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Sharon Singleton)