From the warm embrace in the morning in front of the entrance to Borgo Egnazia it was understood that the G7 would be the scene of a duel between Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron. Certainly not the first, and in all likelihood not the last. The Prime Minister and the French President are playing the game of new EU governance from two different perspectives and with decidedly divergent objectives. The leader of FdI, in light of the growth of right-wing forces, aims to slow down the moves of the popular, socialists and liberals for the rapid confirmation of Ursula von der Leyen and the maintenance of alliances in the name of the status quo.
But to those who asked him if Meloni is stronger now, the resident of the Elysée responded bluntly: «The political balances» in Europe «have changed relatively little». It is inevitable to read the tensions that accompanied the eve and first day of the summit in Puglia from this perspective. Not only on the paragraph dedicated to abortion in the leaders' final declaration. It is difficult not to notice how on the eve of Macron received Ursula von der Leyen, the main protagonist of the risk for the European Commission summit. And in the same hours the announcement arrived from Paris of the agreement reached on the use of frozen Russian assets to provide new aid to Ukraine. It is one of the "concrete results" that Meloni was aiming for as rotating president of the Big Seven group. And which, after intense work conducted by the government's sherpa for the G7, Elisabetta Belloni, she was only able to announce in the statement at the end of the first day, underlining that it was a "not obvious" achievement, which makes her "particularly proud".
In short, the outcome of the summit so far is positive for the Prime Minister. “I'm happy, of course,” she smiled as she passed journalists and photographers before attending the flag ceremony on a golf course. While waiting for the "historic" day in which for the first time a pontiff will be a guest of the G7, a special invitee to address the issue of ethical limits on artificial intelligence, the leader of FdI claims "wide sharing" on the part of the leaders on the Plan Mattei launched by the government. And he can already announce that there is consensus on the final declaration. However, the diplomatic incident over the protection of abortion remains. The prime minister, according to reconstructions filtered by other international delegations, found herself isolated on the idea of avoiding including an explicit reference to the termination of pregnancy. A position also filtered on the eve by French sources. The irritation of Palazzo Chigi appears evident in the tone with which Italian sources have reconstructed the episode as a case of "post-election exploitation".
And Meloni herself underlines: «There is no reason to argue about issues that we have already agreed on for some time. And I believe it is profoundly wrong, in difficult times like these, to campaign using a precious forum like the G7." Accusations with generic recipients, but it is not difficult to think that the suspects are from beyond the Alps. It is certainly a disruptive action that is anything but welcome to those like Meloni who are counting on the success of the G7 also to be able to strengthen their position when the negotiations between the 27 for the top roles of the EU Commission and Council come to a head.
The first informal meeting is on Monday in Brussels. The cold greeting with von der Leyen in Borgo Egnazia confirms that the enthusiasm towards his encore is at its lowest. And every negotiation, from the Italian point of view, will have to include a powerful commissioner's seat and a vice-presidency of the Commission. Meloni is in no hurry, he wants to wait for the legislative elections in France on 30 June. His hope is that Marine Le Pen's far-right, after its success at the European elections, will go into government, emphasizing the change of direction claimed by the various conservative forces after the vote for the European Parliament. For Macron it is at most a light breeze that nothing will change.
(Unioneonline)
