G7 Summit Holds in Italy: A Comprehensive Report
The G7 summit, an annual gathering of the world's seven leading industrialized democracies, took place in Fasano, Italy on June 13-14, 2024. The event brought together leaders from the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom.
The first day of the summit was marked by various activities including a skydiving demonstration that saw parachutists carrying flags of G7 nations landing at the venue. This spectacle was an attempt to showcase unity among these countries.
However, beneath this facade of unity, there were underlying tensions and differences among the leaders. For instance, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's approval rating stood above 40%, making her an outlier in a group of leaders whose popularity was on the wane. Her brand of politics was gaining traction in Europe as shown by EU elections.
Meanwhile, President Biden attended the summit with a trailing approval rating compared to other leaders. His son Hunter had recently been convicted on felony gun charges, adding to his political woes.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also faced low approval ratings of 30% and 25%, respectively. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's party finished third in European Parliament elections, making him likely to lose his job in upcoming elections.
Despite these challenges, the leaders were expected to make some news on the second day of their summit as they planned to meet with leaders from India, Brazil, Turkey and other non-Western countries. This move was seen as a nod to the changing global balance of power.
Another major issue on the agenda was migration. The European Union and United States were grappling with this issue that had helped fuel a recent resurgence of populism and far-right parties in these regions.
The leaders also sought to ensure long-term support for Ukraine amid fears of a potential Trump return in the US election. Biden signed a bilateral security accord with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that committed the US for 10 years to continued training of Ukraine's armed forces, more cooperation in the production of weapons and military equipment, continued provision of military assistance, and greater intelligence sharing.
Despite these efforts to show unity and address pressing issues, there were disagreements on certain topics such as reproductive rights. Biden sought to keep language about this issue in a G7 leaders' statement after the summit host sought to strip some language from the document.
American allies were collectively preparing for a second Trump administration with a sense of trepidation and exhaustion.
