00:00 In their first official meeting outside of international summits, Emmanuel Macron welcomed
00:06 Giorgia Meloni to the Elysee Palace on Tuesday for talks aiming to smooth over French-Italian
00:11 ties following a series of spats over immigration policies.
00:16 The neighbours vowed to work closer together on their aligned common interests, including
00:21 reaffirming their joint support of Ukraine.
00:24 "There is no doubt that Italy and France will continue to support Ukraine as long as this
00:28 is necessary.
00:30 That's the reason why we will continue to do our part and I'm proud to announce that
00:34 the French-Italian SAMPT defence system is now operational to defend innocent civilians."
00:42 Immigration has been a thorn between Paris and Rome since far-right Meloni came to power
00:47 last year, making her stance clear when she refused a migrant ship permission to dock
00:52 in Italy, with Macron publicly denouncing this decision.
00:56 And the French president called for the pair to find a middle ground of cooperation.
01:01 "In terms of immigration, we continue to experience drama in the Mediterranean.
01:08 We need to be able to organise asylum and immigration in Europe more effectively.
01:12 We want to strengthen the control of our external borders.
01:16 Italy is part of this as the country of first entry."
01:19 Earlier this month, European countries agreed on a stricter reform of asylum laws, including
01:25 financial penalties for countries who refuse to host asylum seekers.
01:29 (laughter)
