Press release
16 December 2023
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni this afternoon at Palazzo Chigi in Rome
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
The Prime Minister met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni this afternoon at Palazzo Chigi in Rome.
The leaders welcomed the strong cooperation between the United Kingdom and Italy across a range of areas, including on tackling illegal migration. They committed to continuing to strengthen the collective effort to fight criminal people-smuggling gangs and ensure control of Europe’s borders.
The Prime Minister confirmed that the UK would participate in the Rome Process, working with the Italian Government on upstream projects on the migration route to help address the root causes of migration. In support of this, leaders committed to co-fund a project to promote and assist the voluntary return of migrants from Tunisia to their countries of origin. They also agreed to deepen UK-Italy cooperation on security and economic development across North Africa.
The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Meloni also discussed wider geopolitical issues, including the situation in Israel and Gaza and their unwavering support for Ukraine. They noted progress on cooperation on Artificial Intelligence following the UK summit and agreed to continue driving forward initiatives on AI safety.
The leaders also welcomed the signing of a treaty this week between the UK, Italy and Japan on developing innovative stealth fighter jets, which marked a key stage in the landmark joint Global Combat Air Programme.
The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Meloni said they would continue to build on the ever-closer relationship between the British and Italian Governments, and looked forward to Italy’s Presidency of the G7 next year.
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