It certainly cannot be said that the G7 chaired by Giorgia Meloni started off in the best possible way. The international context certainly doesn't help: from war in Ukraine now in its second year of conflict Gaza which worries the international community more and more every day due to the atrocities committed by the two sides, not least the massacre of Palestinians waiting to receive food aid yesterday.
Crises about which exist among the so-called Big Seven different interests and sensitivities. The task of a presidency that aspires to appear authoritative and responsible would be to mediate between the various positions and draw up a final communiqué at the Apulian summit in June without excessive square brackets (signal of dissent) and which has the ambition to play some role for peaceful solutions to ongoing conflicts. And instead, a few days ago we heard the Italian Prime Minister on television convincingly support the need for the G7 to be a useful opportunity to support Italian interests.
G7 and Meloni's misstep in Kiev: disagreements between the prime minister and Macron
The first misstep was certainly the G7 meeting called by Meloni in Kiev for the two years after the start of the war which saw the controversial absence of the French president Emmanuel Macron, who, unlike the German Chancellor Scholz, did not even have time to connect briefly from the French food fair where he was at the time, thus marking his open disagreement with the initiative. But moreover, Macron called a summit in Paris on aid to Ukraine for the following day to which, at that point, Meloni in retaliation only sent an undersecretary for Foreign Affairs who was not even invited to the final dinner of the heads of state and Government.
That Meloni and Macron do not love each other is now an incontrovertible fact but politics, especially international politics, also requires (I would say above all) dealing with unpleasant interlocutors. At that point, whoever holds the responsibility of leading the group of the seven most industrialized countries in theWest (as much as this scheme from other times may still be relevant) would have the duty to make the best of things by overcoming antipathies and disagreements with gestures of apparent submission.
But that's it. After a year and a half of staying in Palazzo Chigi Meloni still struggles to shed the clothes and behavior of an opposition party and put on the much more cumbersome ones of an appreciated and respected international leader.
G7: Prime Minister in Washington today and tomorrow from Biden
The same trip that today Friday 1 March and tomorrow 2 March will take her first to Washington and then to Toronto presents itself as a sort of "crazy mayonnaise" in which the classic multilateral themes of the G7 agenda coexist with bilateral themes. Demonstrating that the G7 for Meloni is just a taxi, one photo opportunity useful above all to strengthen itself internally, especially after the defeat of the Sardinian elections.
Today's visit to the White House and the meeting with Joe Biden is Meloni's third international appointment as G7 president after the mission to Japan at the beginning of February and the mission to Kiev on 24 February. Meloni will illustrate the priorities of the Italian Presidency to Biden: defense of the international system based on the force of law and support for Ukraine; conflict in the Middle East with consequences on the global agenda; priority attention towards Africa to build a partnership model; focus on the Indo-Pacific region; migration issues; Artificial intelligence. With Biden (as well as on Saturday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) the talks will serve to discuss the main international issues: war in Ukraine; situation in the Middle East, humanitarian support in Gaza and security in the Red Sea; cooperation with the African continent and Piano Mattei to verify collaboration opportunities in areas of common interest; security of supply chains; transatlantic coordination on challenges and opportunities posed by China; preparation for the next NATO summit, which will be held in Washington on 9-11 July on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance.
On Africa, Meloni will try to share with Biden in particular the objectives of the so-called Mattei plan, a project for now only Italian (but firmly opposed by the French who consider it an invasion of the field) which is part of a general new attention to the African continent . It would be essential to have at least American political support on that level (all still in progress) especially after the American disengagement from the Mediterranean following the Arab Spring which has effectively changed the geopolitical framework of the area, paving the way for the massive presence of Russia, China and Turkey.
But, as sources at Palazzo Chigi report, the meeting with Biden will also serve to "continue to build bilateral relations on the basis of the Joint Declaration adopted by the two leaders as part of President Meloni's first visit to Washington since the beginning of his mandate, last July 27th”. In the USA, the Italian-American community is large (more than 20 million), plus more than 325.000 resident Italian citizens. In 2023, the USA represented the third destination market for Italian exports, with an exchange of around 102 billion dollars (with a surplus of 44 in favor of Italy), and the presence of Italian companies in every economic-industrial sector, including the defense and aerospace.
G7: bilateral dossiers also with Trudeau's Canada
Bilateral dossiers also with the Canadian prime minister Trudeau. Canada is an important partner for Italy (around 12 billion euros of trade between January and November 2023, +1,1% on the previous year). The trade balance is favorable to Italy (+4,2 billion in the first 11 months of 2023) and there is a high level of complementarity (manufacturing specialization and innovation in Italy and abundance of raw materials in Canada). The role of the community of Italian origin is important (approximately 1,6 million, half of whom live in Ontario). And it is precisely because of the massive Italian presence concentrated there that Meloni wanted to meet Trudeau and not in the capital Ottawa. In short, before the G7 the Italians…
