The European crisis is undoubtedly the pivot on which the meeting of the Big Eight will revolve. Yesterday evening at Camp David, not far from Washington, the G8 was inaugurated which will continue throughout the weekend, concluding in Chicago on Monday at the NATO summit. The leaders of will be present United States, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Russia. However, the former president and current prime minister Dmitry Medvedev will represent Moscow because the current president Vladimir Putin is busy forming the new government.
Meeting Hollande and Obama – Before the official opening of the G8, the bilateral meeting took place between the new French president François Hollande and the president of the United States, Barack Obama. And we have already begun to outline a Franco-American axis ready to break the excessive rigor on which Germany insists so much. The two leaders in fact agree on two fundamental points: Greece must remain in the Eurozone and strategies for growth must be the priority to give new breath to the European economy.
European crisis – Fiscal stimulus to growth or austerity for the EU? This is the question on which it is hoped that the eight world leaders will find agreement. François Hollande will promote initiatives to get Europe's GDP moving again, while the German chancellor Angela Merkelincreasingly isolated both nationally and internationally, continues to insist on the need for austerity measures. Yesterday the European heads of state reiterated that rigor and growth go hand in hand. But Merkel does not want to know about fiscal stimuli such as the Eurobonds proposed by the British premier. A compromise could be the creation of European bonds for specific infrastructure and investment projects. The role of mediator seems to have been entrusted to Professor Monti, emblem of the right balance between austerity and stimuli for growth, who will open the proceedings today.
The American president Barack Obama needs Europe to recover as soon as possible e he fears that excessive austerity could slow down or block the recovery. For this reason, together with Hollande, he wanted to insist on stimuli to raise the GDP. But the funds that the US can make available are scarce and their leverage cannot be decisive. However, Obama's statements strengthen the alliance between the US and France even in the post-Sarkozy era.
Greece and Spain – The political vacuum that Athens is going through and the banking crisis in Spain are topics that will be addressed, but it is unlikely that they will have direct effects. President Obama's policy in recent months has been to keep his distance and not meddle in the European problem. But Obama was clear: “Greece must not leave the euro”.
Syria, Iran and Afghanistan – They will not be missing from the G8 discussion table discussions on the peace plan proposed by the UN and accepted by the Syrian regime which however, since the day of its implementation on April 12, has been repeatedly violated by the military Syrians. Particularly under pressure in this regard will be Russia, which has repeatedly compared the violence of the regime to that of the rebels, without ever expressing a real condemnation of Assad. There will be no shortage of hints on Iran's nuclear program which is believed to have military purposes. An issue on which some of the leaders must find a common strategy in view of the negotiations between Theran and the 5+1 (USA, Great Britain, France, China, Russia plus Germany) on 23 May in Istanbul. In the end Hollande's will to withdraw a large part of the French troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year will be mentioned. Statements confirmed yesterday evening to Obama: "I told the US president that in any case he will always have our support, but in other forms," Hollande specified. However, the mission to Kabul will be one of the central themes of the NATO summit on Sunday and Monday.
Poverty – President Obama wants to launch a stimulus program for sustainable agricultural production in the most backward parts of Africa. Is called "Green agriculture revolution” and would like renew the G8's commitment to the fight against poverty. The leaders of four African countries were also invited to the summit to discuss it (Ghana, Benin, Tanzania and Ethiopia). In 2009, 22 billion dollars had been allocated to L'Aquila, distributed over three years, for a program to fight hunger. But international organizations have differing opinions on the achievement of the latter's objectives.
