The Declaration of the G7 leaders’ summit at the Italian hotel ‘Borgo Egnazia’ has included a strong defense of Ukrainewith a multimillion-dollar loan backed by Russian assets, as well as a democratic notice to Venezuela and the disappearance of the word “abortion”, among many other topics.
The leaders of the group of the most industrialized democracies on the planet – Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom – have addressed the most pressing issues of the increasingly turbulent world geopolitics.
These are the keys to a 36-page document resulting from intense negotiations.
The first agreement of this G7 has been a loan to the Ukrainian resistance of 46,000 million euros which will be financed with the interests generated from Russian assets frozen around the world, mostly in the European Union.
Moscow has warned of “extremely painful” consequences for this measure.
The leaders also announced their commitment to punish with “robust actions” to the Chinese banks that are helping the Kremlin avoid Western sanctions and the Chinese companies that help it access technology to manufacture weapons.
Although today they did not announce any punishment against Chinese entities, they committed to taking “restrictive measures” according to their legal systems, which could range from sanctions to export controls.
The leaders also expressed concern about the business practices “unfair” from China and assured that, although they do not want to impede the growth of the Asian giant, they want Beijing to abide by the rules that govern international trade.
“We are not trying to harm China or prevent its economic development, in fact, a growing China that plays by international rules and norms would be in the global interest,” they say.
On the Middle East, the G7 asked Hamas to accept the ceasefire agreement for Gaza included in US President Joe Biden’s plan and urges “countries that have influence” over the Islamist group “to help ensure that it does so.”
Furthermore, Israel must “refrain from carrying out” a “large-scale military offensive” in Rafah, which “would have even more dire consequences for civilians,” when the war has already claimed more than 37,000 lives in the Strip.
In this region, G7 leaders warned Iran with “respond quickly and coordinated, including with new and important measures” if Tehran continues to support Russia in the Ukraine war with “ballistic missiles and related technology”, which implies “a direct threat to European security”.
They also “demand” that he “put an end to his malicious activities and destabilizing actions in the Middle East.”
The current Italian presidency has wanted to dedicate special attention to Latin America and, therefore, the Group has asked Venezuela for free elections on July 28 with observers, respecting the Barbados Agreementand put an end to the harassment of opponents and the detention of all political prisoners.
In addition, the territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over the Essequibo region was addressed and Caracas was demanded to “refrain from new destabilizing initiatives.” “The matter must be resolved peacefully, in accordance with international law,” he concluded.
The ‘Borgo Egnazia’ summit has been clouded by the defense of abortion, a word that finally does not appear in the final declaration. The far-right Meloni and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, at ideological opposites, have exchanged statements on this issue.
Finally, the leaders have limited themselves to revalidating their commitment to last year’s Hiroshima declaration, in which they committed to “addressing access to legal abortion and post-abortion care.”
The agreed text has been: “We reiterate our commitments to the ‘Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué’ for universal access to adequate, affordable and quality health services for women, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.” , without mentioning the word.
The G7 advocates for “freedom of navigation in the Red Sea” and the “immediate” release of the crew of the cargo ship ‘Galaxy Leader’, held captive since November 19, 2023, when the “Houthi” rebels landed a helicopter in the ship, which was seized and diverted to the Yemeni port of Al Hodeida.
(With information from EFE)
