Boosted by the stunning showing of
her right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party in last week's
European elections, Premier Giorgia Meloni is preparing to host
the 2024 G7 summit, which takes place at the Puglia resort of
Borgo Egnazia from Thursday until Saturday.
Meloni said Monday that "Italy can present itself at the G7 and
in Europe with the strongest government of all" after FdI won
almost 29% of the vote here in the European elections, even more
than the 26% it won in the 2022 general election that thrust her
to power.
The G7 leaders are expected to announce an agreement on the use
of the profits from Russia assets frozen in the West following
Moscow's invasion of Ukraine to set up a 50-billion-euro fund
for Kyiv.
Washington has been pushing hard for this, but European nations
have been more prudent due to technical issues regarding the
legal implications of such a move.
The crisis in the Middle East will be a key area of focus too.
The Italian duty presidency of the G7 is also making sure there
is great attention to the issues of migration and relations with
developing nations, especially engagement with African States,
for a cooperation model based on mutually beneficial
partnerships, rather than the paternalistic or predatory
approaches of the past.
Artificial Intelligence is on the agenda as well.
Indeed, Pope Francis will attend the summit on Friday, becoming
the first pontiff to take part in a G7, and is set to talk about
the need for ethical AI, as well as about efforts to bring about
peace.
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