Europe Fractures Over Palestine? Italy’s Meloni Rejects France’s Recognition Push As ‘Illusion’

French President Emmanuel Macron with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. (File photo: Reuters via ANI)

Rome: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has rebuked France’s decision to move toward recognising the State of Palestine, warning that such symbolic gestures risk misleading the world into believing a solution exists when it does not.

Speaking to La Repubblica on Saturday, Meloni said, “I am very much in favour of the State of Palestine, but I am not in favour of recognising it before its establishment.”

“If something that does not exist is recognised on paper, the problem could appear to be solved when it is not,” she further said.

Her statement has come at a time when France’s President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to make what he called a “historic” declaration at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in September.

Macron has earlier declared, “True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine.”

The message appeared on both X and Instagram and has since been echoed across international headlines.

France’s pivot is more than symbolic. It places one of the EU’s core powers squarely in the camp of the 142 nations that already recognise Palestinian statehood, according to an AFP count. This includes major countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America, but it notably excludes the United States, Germany and Italy.

Like Italy, Germany has signalled its hesitation. Berlin made it clear it is not ready to follow Macron’s lead, emphasising instead the need to achieve “long-overdue progress” toward a two-state solution, rather than simply affirming it in principle.

But Macron’s announcement has reignited tensions with Israel and the United States, both of which have long opposed unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood. According to diplomats aligned with Tel Aviv and Washington, the fear is that such moves could sideline negotiations and embolden hardliners.

The backdrop to all this is the historical arc that began in 1947, when the United Nations approved a resolution dividing British-mandated Palestine into two separate entities – one Jewish and one Arab. The next year, Israel declared statehood. The Arab state, meanwhile, has remained caught in limbo, recognised by many, but without defined borders, sovereignty or a unified government.

Meloni’s concern is rooted in that unresolved reality. While carefully worded, her message delivered a warning that premature recognition could solidify the illusion of peace without delivering it, leaving both Israelis and Palestinians trapped in the very limbo that generations of diplomacy have failed to escape.