Italy Luigi Di Maio
© Angelo Carconi/EFE via European Press AgencyItalian deputy premier Luigi Di Maio
5Stars leader has been a vocal champion of the street movement.

Luigi Di Maio, leader of Italy's 5Star Movement and deputy prime minister, on Tuesday met with leaders of the Yellow Jackets in Paris, and the two sides agreed to touch base again in Rome, according to a statement issued by the 5Stars in the European Parliament.

The statement said Di Maio and 5Star MP Alessandro Di Battista met Christophe Chalençon, a leader of the Yellow Jackets movement who is associated with a list of candidates planning to run in May's European Parliament election called the Référendum d'Initiative Citoyenne (RIC).

"We have a lot of common positions and values, such as the defense of citizens, social rights, direct democracy and environment," the statement said. "There is enthusiasm, we will meet soon in Rome."

Chalençon and Ingrid Levavasseur, a 31-year-old auxiliary nurse, are two of the main figures of the street movement, which began in response to an increase in fuel taxes but has since turned into a bigger - largely anti-Emmanuel Macron - cause.
Ingrid Levavasseur yellow vest
© Agence France-PresseIngrid Levavasseur, a popular figure of the “yellow vests” movement, stands in a street of Grand Bourgtheroulde, northwestern France, on January 15, 2019.
Levavasseur and others announced last month they would draw up a list for the EU election.

Di Maio has sided with the Yellow Jackets and said he is "ready" to offer them "the support you need."
Maïa de La Baume is a reporter covering the European Parliament in Brussels. Prior to joining POLITICO, Maia spent 9 years at the New York Times in Paris, where she mainly wrote news stories and features about French politics and society.