Seventy-two hours before Italy takes over on January 1 Rotating presidency of the Group of Seven In the (G7) case, South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Jewish officials of committing crimes. genocide in Gaza. This is an issue that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni completely ignored in his first statements after being away from the spotlight for several days due to flu and the Christmas holiday. He was not asked about this issue either. Thus, Meloni, as he did on other occasions, avoided talking about a very sensitive issue at the geopolitical level.
Just like during the Presidency Japan –the country that has just transferred its presidency to Italy–, RomeThe G7, which is the junior partner of the G7 (comprising the US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Canada) but has been part of that club since 1975, took the lead of these highly industrialized Western countries last week. A deeply divisive moment in foreign policy; This time after Hamas’ terrorist attack and Israel’s war response in the Gaza Strip, which has already claimed the lives of more than 22,000 people and caused enormous international friction.
In this context, the “first goal” of this year’s G7 will be exactly this: prevent this war from spreadingAccording to Antonio Tajani, vice president of the Italian Government and Minister of Foreign Affairs. But many observers wonder: likeAt a time when the so-called Global South was subjected to great criticism against Israel, the USA and other Western powers, Italy perform a role (not just decorative) so G7 follows the target Establishing dialogue with multilateral alternatives from the global south.
Global South
This is one of Meloni’s goals. At the next G7 summit, which will be held in the Apulia region of Italy in June this year, the president said last May that “the south of the world will be its center” and expressed his enthusiasm for this. more collaboration especially with African countries Maintaining control over events such as migrations. “There are various goals to be achieved within the G7 framework. One of them is reduce distances who have revealed themselves so conspicuously in the past year Between the West and the Global South“, admitted Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, nowadays president of the Affari Internazionali institute, founded in 1965 and one of the most accredited in Italy.
Perhaps we can find the answer to this question in Meloni’s steps before he began Italy’s G7 presidency. These include the president’s meetings with the Indian prime minister. Narendra ModiPerson with whom Meloni has physically met at least three times in 2023. The last one was at COP28 in Dubai, a photo of which the politician even shared on social networks.your good friend“It’s always a pleasure to meet up with friends,” he replied with the hashtag #melody.
This event is important because South Africa (a country that is part of the BRICS group along with India, Brazil, China and Russia) is located very far from its authorities. New Delhi reached Banning pro-Palestinian demonstrations He called Hamas “terrorists” in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region. All this happened after Israeli and Indian officials signed important agreements five years ago. arms trade.
frictions
Meloni and Modi’s rapport coincides with a series of gestures the Italian made last year to empower himself. Reputation as a strong Atlanticist. One of the most striking: the decision to abandon the Chinese New Silk Road in December, just four months before the agreement with Beijing was due to expire according to the originally agreed upon deadline. Still, it’s a decision Meloni made without completely closing the door on President Xi Jinping, whom he will visit “as soon as possible,” as he recently said. feature d’union with Washington.
In fact, Meloni has achieved almost perfect alignment with the United States. So much so that he continues to defend his shipping strategy weapons to Ukraine as “the only alternative to maintaining” balance between forces Although he was “on the ground”, he also insisted on seeking a “diplomatic solution” to put an end to this situation. Conflict with Russia He even noticed a certain “fatigue” of Western countries, as he said in a telephone conversation with two impostors pretending to be the heads of the African Union Commission.
However, the contributions that the right wing can make thanks to the relationships it has established so far during its term in office may not be the only innovations of this new phase of the G7. According to the program, other agenda issues that will be discussed in the coming months will be the fight against terrorism. terrorismIt has recently alarmed various European countries again. epidemic diseases And artificial intelligence (AI).