Rishi Sunak and Georgia Meloni become best friends

Rishi Sunak and Georgia Meloni came to power in their countries three days apart. Credit: Paul Ellis/Pool/Getty Images

Rishi Sunak appeared to have made a new best friend in the diplomatic realm on Wednesday as he laughed with his Italian counterpart for the second day in a row.

The prime minister was pictured joking with Georgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Vilnius, Lithuania.

On Tuesday evening, they both laughed at something on Ms. Meloni's mobile phone before leaving to meet with the leaders. dinner at the NATO summit center.

10 sources said they did not know what was on Ms. Meloni's screen.

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The couple's friendship first blossomed on the sidelines of the Cop 27 summit in Egypt last November, and have since been photographed together at the G7 meeting in Japan and on the steps of Downing Street during the bilateral summit.

Sunak, 43 and 46-year-old Meloni came to power in their countries with a difference of three days.

Although Meloni is Italy's first female prime minister, Sunak is Britain's first prime minister. Asian heritage.

Rishi Sunak and Georgia Meloni greet each other

They are both Conservatives, although Ms Meloni's Brothers of Italy party is seen as more right-wing than the British Conservative Party.

The couple also face similar political challenges at home : Illegal migration fills the papers of both London papers. and Rome.

Mr. Sunak's approach to “stopping the boats” is largely driven by international agreements, including those with Rwanda and Albania, combined with border courts in the English Channel.

The two leaders were seen laughing at something on Ms. Meloni's cell phone

Ms. Meloni, however, prefers a more extreme approach and previously called for a naval blockade to prevent migrants from entering Italy from across the Mediterranean.

Last month, Mr. Sunak sent Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, to Italy to strike a new deal with the Italian government that the two countries share intelligence on smugglers and the tactics used by their border and national crime agencies.

While at the NATO summit, the couple joked with each other

The so-called “strategic migration partnership” may explain their apparent closeness at summits over the past nine months.

Mr. Sunak also offered to help Italy strike an Albania-style deal with Tunisia to facilitate the return of illegal migrants arriving on the Italian coast.