Leaders of the Group of 7 major industrialized countries now turn their attention to migration on the second day of their summit on Friday.
The agreement reached on Thursday by G7 leaders to use the benefits of frozen Russian assets to guarantee a loan of 46 billion euros in support of Ukraine has already been described as “historic”.
The joint effort to demonstrate to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the world’s leading industrial democracies are on Ukraine’s side was also behind thelong-term agreement signed on Thursday to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses against Russian invasion.
“Is a strong signal we send to Putinshowing him that he cannot win,” declared the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in statements to the press on the sidelines of the summit.
Along with Ukraine, Thursday’s attention was also focused on the Middle East, with the call of the Group of 7 to Hamas to accept the ceasefire agreement proposed by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and demand the release of all hostages.
According to the Italian media, the summit conclusions will also ask Israel to respect international law and “reduce the offensive on Rafah.”
Second day: Africa, China and artificial intelligence
On the first day of the first major international summit organized by Giorgia Meloni since she took office in 2022, conversations also focused on Africa.
At the end of the first round of sessions, Meloni expressed his satisfaction with the support of the G7 leaders to the Plan Mattei for Africawhose objective is to address the root causes of migratory flows from the continent.
It is expected that Africa is high on the agenda of this year’s summit in Apulia, and Italia aspires to position itself as Europe’s main bridge to establish new alliances on that continent.
As the debate over Africa’s role continues on Friday, Pope Francis will attend the G7 summit on the second day. It is the first time that the pontiff participates in the summit, whose conversations will focus on artificial intelligence and the migrationand in which China will also be talked about.
The G7 meeting will undoubtedly be remembered for the significant number of invited leaders who will attend the summit. Next to Pope Franciscoleaders from Ukraine and nations of the Global South have also joined the event for extensive discussions on the most pressing issues facing these parts of the world.
However, on Thursday, the opening of the summit was accompanied by criticism against the italian prime ministeraccused of removing a reference guaranteeing safe and legal abortions in the summit’s final declaration.
The Meloni Government later justified itself, claiming that the document was still being negotiated. France and Canada have pushed for this reference to be included, as a continuation of the agreement reached at the summit of the G7 held in Japan last year.
Leaders gathered at the Borgo Egnazia tourist complex have implemented strict security measures, such as the introduction of a red zone with restricted access and the deployment of more than 5,000 police officers.
On Thursday night, world leaders were invited to a dinner offered for the Italian president Sergio Mattarella.
