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BARI.- Beyond more than concrete support for Ukraine for the first time – through an agreement that will mean a loan of 50 billion dollars thanks to the interests of Russia’s frozen assets -, the G7 that concluded this Saturday in the paradisiacal luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia de la Puglia made it clear that her host, Giorgia Meloninot only passed the test, but left it as A super star”.
Many analysts agree, in fact, that Meloni, 47 years old and with the perennial shadow on his back of leading a post-fascist right-wing partydemonstrated in this event that brought together the seven most industrialized democracies in the world that its leadership has been consolidated not only at the European level, but also internationally.
In a multilateral forum often criticized for its inconsistency, Meloni, like a housewife and conductor, made the G7 – which brings together Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France and Germany, plus the European Union (EU)- had substance.
And in two days in which, as always, friction and differences also came to the fore, he also excelled: demonstrated intelligence, attitude, temperament, style and empathy.
Always very elegant in her light-colored Armani outfits and blonde hair with curls, she always looked authentic: just as glared in a greeting to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, with whom he never got along and the only one with whom he did not have a bilateral relationship, he hugged, smiled and joked when he received his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei, to whom he dedicated several minutes more than to other guests, to the delight of the photographers. present.
What’s more, in a nod to the libertarian leader, this Saturday on his social networks he uploaded a photo of them, the flags of Argentina and Italy and wrote in Italian “Long live freedom!”, without the Argentine epithet.
Meloni also had great harmony with his illustrious guest, Pope Francis, a presence that marked an enormous difference with previous summits since it was the first time that a pontiff attended in the almost fifty years of this forum. Something “historic” and “extraordinary”, as she stressed time and again, and that the other leaders took advantage of with ten bilateral meetings in which the Pope insisted on a single point: peace, the need to sit down to negotiate, to dialogue, in an increasingly convulsed, aggressive world. and out of control.
Meloni arrived at the G7 summit with an enormous advantage over the other members of the select group. She had triumphed in the european elections last weekend, which instead put the leaders of the other two large countries of the European Union (EU) against the wall at the forum.
The French Macron, who saw his party collapse, doubled by Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, in a move that some consider suicidal, He dissolved Parliament and called early elections. The German Chancellor Olaf Sholzto whom the other G7 leaders sang his birthday on Friday, for his part, saw his social democratic party come third, behind Alternative for Germany (AFD), also far-right.
But there were several other “lame ducks.” The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who on Friday at his press conference did not hesitate to say publicly that “Giorgia is fantastic”, will most likely receive an electoral slap next July 4th.
According to polls, the American could also have problems next November Joe Biden, who, in addition, arrived in Puglia weakened by the judicial sentence of his son Hunter. The last two leaders of the Seven, the Canadian Justin Trudeau and to Japanese Fiumo Kishida, Nor are they going through their best moments in government.
In addition to this favorable situation, Meloni demonstrated that the G7 is not “a closed fortress”, but a forum open to the world, inviting an extended session on a topic as important as artificial intelligence – imposed by Italy – to non-member countries, such as Argentina, Algeria, Tunisia, Brazil and India, who make up the Brics group – along with China, Russia and South Africa -, among others, and representatives of international organizations.
“I cannot help but begin by saying that for me and for Italy as a whole It was an honor to chair the G7, that, without fear of being denied, it was a success”, Meloni celebrated this Saturday at the press conference that put the final touch on the event.
Although a certain hint of fatigue could be noted, in the press conference, which lasted an hour, Meloni was solid and very confident. A true reflection of that more intimate climate that he managed to establish, he surprised by thanking his G7 colleagues by mentioning them by their first names: from Joe (Biden) to Ursula (von der Leyen), outgoing president of the European Commission.
He stressed that together they demonstrated a united and compact G7 not only regarding Ukraine, but also in the need to a de-escalation in the Middle East and many other global challenges and also thanked the special guests for their “critical positive contribution to the success of the summit.”
Meloni was especially proud because, thanks to Italy, for the first time the G7 added its “Mattei Plan” to help Africa to other initiatives of the EU and this forum with that same purpose. “Italy tries to be a reference point to build a new model of development and cooperation with African nations, so that they can grow with the resources they have,” he boasted.
He also considered an Italian achievement that, “for the first time in its history” The G7 has committed to confront the root causes of migration and fight against human traffickers, to counter a plague that represents a new form of slavery.
“I am very proud because this has never been discussed at a summit and never with such clarity,” said Meloni, who recalled that the model of the murdered anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino to combat the mafia is “follow the money” (follow the money) and that today human trafficking has become a much more profitable criminal activity than drug or arms trafficking.
When asked about the elimination of the word “abortion” from the final declaration, a controversy that threatened to overshadow “her” G7, the prime minister did not hide her irritation. “Why is there no reference? Because in the final documents the things already acquired (at the G7 summit in Hiroshima) are not repeated,” answered. “I think that the controversy was artificially constructed, it is a controversy that did not exist at the summit and that it did not exist in the discussions,” she denounced, highlighting that, beyond the opposition’s narrative that accuses her of wanting to go backwards in terms of rights, she never had the intention of changing Law 194 of 1978, which allows in Italy legal interruption of pregnancy.
Regarding the issue that now reveals everyone – whether Meloni, a leader of the group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), will support the candidacy of his “friend” Ursula von der Leyen for a second term in the European Commission, within the framework of the advance of the right in the European elections. The prime minister was cautious. He said that on Monday there will be a meeting in which the issue will begin to be evaluated, he admitted that Von der Leyen’s European People’s Party (EPP) was the one that received the most votes, but also, reinforced by his stellar performance In this G7, she warned that she expects two things: that “Italy is recognized for its corresponding role and that Europe understands the message that came from European citizens.”
