At the G7 summit in Borgo Egnazia, EU leaders promised help to Ukraine. The president of the Council of the European Union, Charles Michel, and other representatives of the participating states reached an agreement, but the technical details still need to be ironed out.
Ukraine will receive $50 billion in credits before the end of the year to be able to buy weapons and finance its state budget.
Income from the approximately €230 billion in assets held by an asset management company in Belgium generates five billion euros each year. This money will be used as collateral to finance interest and repayment.
Long-term help for kyiv
The United States, like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, had pushed for the Russian money to be confiscated. But the Europeans did not want to get involved because they feared a loss of confidence in the European investment market.
President Zelensky, who arrived this Thursday (06/13/2024) at the G7 summit hotel in Puglia, southern Italy, from Saudi Arabia, said that the G7 was making very important decisions.
On the sidelines of the summit, Zelensky signed two 10-year bilateral security agreements, one with Japan and the other with the United States. U.S. diplomats said the agreement also provided a form of peace of mind in case Donald Trump, critical of Ukraine, was re-elected to the White House in the fall.
Meloni, focusing attention on Africa
In addition to the flashpoints of Ukraine and the Middle East, G7 leaders want to improve cooperation with Africa. The Italian leader of the G7, the right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, once again put Africa at the top of the agenda.
Meloni said reliable supply chains are needed for raw materials, energy, and other products from the neighboring continent. The G7 promised more investments in future industries in Africa. Italy presented a new plan, named after the founder of the Italian oil company Eni, Enrico Mattei.
The “Mattei Plan” is committed to energy production projects in Africa. Italy would act as a distributor and bridge between Africa and Europe. Numerous food security and educational support projects are planned.
This new initiative is initially budgeted at €8 billion, a figure that critics have already described as too low. Giorgia Meloni now wants the G7 partners to unite to give more weight to the “Mattei Plan.”
In recent years, other projects were launched by France and Germany during their G7 presidencies. In parallel, the European Union’s “Global Gateway” plan aims to target African partners with investment offers that compete with China and Russia.
Kenya calls for debt restructuring
Kenyan President William Ruto, who is temporarily attending the summit in Italy, called on the G7 to “show more solidarity with Africa” with partial debt relief and restructuring of the national debt of African countries.
According to Ruto, Africa’s development financing must be structured over the longer term, including better financial resources for the African Development Bank and the allocation of more loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is not yet clear how the G7 countries will respond to this.
European Council President Charles Michel said it is time to exercise more “justice” and speak openly about the issues of multilateralism, the enormous challenges posed by a very young population, the consequences of climate change and the still high level of poverty : “States on the African continent must invest in telecommunications, infrastructure and energy supply. (…) They need better access to capital. We must be on their side. We must establish partnerships based on trust and mutual respect.”
The G7 also wants to discuss the sensitive issue of migration with African guests this Friday (14.6.2024). The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, wants to limit immigration as much as possible and outsource asylum procedures to third countries such as Tunisia or Albania.
(rmr/cp)
