Italy's Meloni shows her arch-conservative credentials at G7 summit
Repeats JUNE 15 story. No change to text.
Italy removed specific mention of abortion in G7 text
Diplomats say reference to vaccinations also watered down
Meloni's rightist party highly sensitive to these issues
Meloni says controversy over abortion 'fabricated'
By Crispian Balmer
BARI, Italy, June 16 (Reuters) -Since taking office in 2022, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proved a pragmatic partner on major international issues, assuaging fears she would be a dogmatic conservative unwilling to compromise.
But at the Group of Seven summit that she hosted in southern Italy this week, Meloni showed she had some red lines dear to her nationalist camp that she was ready to fight for, especially issues relating to the family and reproduction rights.
In the build-up to the June 13-15 summit, attention had been firmly focused on securing a deal on a multibillion-dollar loan for Ukraine, using frozen Russian assets, and creating ways to level the playing field in trade with China.
Broad consensus was found on both issues and hailed as proof of Western unity in the face of global challenges.
Then, out of the blue, diplomats revealed that Italy had demanded the removal of specific reference to "safe and legal abortion" from the final G7 statement and also wanted to water down language on vaccination funding.
Despite being isolated, Meloni largely got her way on both issues, using Italy's position as rotating president of the wealthy nation club to lead the negotiations where it wanted, diplomats who followed the discussions told Reuters.
"Meloni is against abortion and always has been, so that was her red line and honestly we pushed early on. But when the presidency said 'no' that was that," said a European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Like many arch-conservative groups in Europe and the United States, Meloni's Brothers of Italy party is opposed to abortions and calls for the promotion of traditional family values.
"She has thrown a bit of red meat to her supporters," said Daniele Albertazzi, politics professor at Britain's Surrey University and an expert in political populism.
"She wants to stress that she is not on the same page as some progressive leaders on these sort of issues because this is part of her identity and it has been diluted since she became prime minister," he added.
FRENCH REGRET
French President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist who has clashed with Meloni in the past over social concerns, including migration, told reporters at the summit that he regretted the fact there was no longer specific reference to "abortion".
Meloni shrugged off the dispute, arguing on Saturday that this week's statement made it clear that the G7 continued to support the aims of its Hiroshima declaration, which backed access to abortion, meaning it was redundant to repeat the previous text.
"I sincerely believe that the controversy was totally contrived," she told reporters, adding that she had no intention of outlawing abortion in Italy.
However, signalling that there had been genuine discomfort over Italy's position, a senior U.S. official said President Joe Biden had objected to an initial draft that removed reference to abortion and made no mention of Hiroshima.
A senior White House official later said Biden fully supported the final wording of the 2024 communique. "He felt strongly about the language that made it through," he said.
Pope Francis, an outspoken opponent of abortion, was a guest at the G7 summit and Italy's Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, who is Meloni's brother-in-law, said this week it would not have been appropriate to talk about pregnancy terminations in the statement given his presence at the meeting.
A European diplomat, who declined to be named, said that during discussions on whether or not to use the word, an Italian counterpart had told fellow negotiators: "the pope will never accept it". They then corrected themselves to say: "Oh, I mean, my prime minister will never accept it", the diplomat said.
Italian officials did not immediately comment on this.
While Meloni's objection to abortion has long been known, the move to water down the language on vaccinations came as more of a surprise.
Italy removed a line included in the 2023 communique which called for "investment in global health through vaccine manufacturing capacity worldwide". This year, there was just a reference to "regional vaccines manufacturing initiatives".
Vaccine scepticism has embedded itself in conservative camps both in the United States and Europe.
While Meloni herself did not endorse no-vax campaigners during the COVID pandemic, her party opposed many of the tough COVID regulations imposed at the time, which required Italians to be vaccinated in order to go to work, use public transport, or enter shops and restaurants.
"She's not anti-vax, but she's partially anti-vax," said one of the European diplomats who followed the negotiations.
Meloni's office declined to comment.
Reporting by John Irish, Angelo Amante, Andrea Shalal, Thomas Escritt and Crispian Balmer; Editing by Mark Potter
Τελευταία νέα
Δήλωση αποποίησης ευθύνης: Οι οντότητες του ομίλου XM Group παρέχουν υπηρεσίες σε βάση εκτέλεσης μόνο και η πρόσβαση στην ηλεκτρονική πλατφόρμα συναλλαγών μας που επιτρέπει στον ενδιαφερόμενο να δει ή/και να χρησιμοποιήσει το περιεχόμενο που είναι διαθέσιμο στην ιστοσελίδα μας ή μέσω αυτής, δε διαφοροποιεί ούτε επεκτείνει αυτές τις υπηρεσίες πέραν αυτού ούτε προορίζεται για κάτι τέτοιο. Η εν λόγω πρόσβαση και χρήση υπόκεινται σε: (i) Όρους και προϋποθέσεις, (ii) Προειδοποιήσεις κινδύνου και (iii) Πλήρη δήλωση αποποίησης ευθύνης. Ως εκ τούτου, το περιεχόμενο αυτό παρέχεται μόνο ως γενική πληροφόρηση. Λάβετε ιδιαιτέρως υπόψη σας ότι τα περιεχόμενα της ηλεκτρονικής πλατφόρμας συναλλαγών μας δεν αποτελούν παρότρυνση, ούτε προσφορά για να προβείτε σε οποιεσδήποτε συναλλαγές στις χρηματοπιστωτικές αγορές. Η πραγματοποίηση συναλλαγών στις χρηματοπιστωτικές αγορές ενέχει σημαντικό κίνδυνο για το κεφάλαιό σας.
Όλο το υλικό που δημοσιεύεται στην ηλεκτρονική πλατφόρμα συναλλαγών μας προορίζεται για εκπαιδευτικούς/ενημερωτικούς σκοπούς μόνο και δεν περιέχει, ούτε θα πρέπει να θεωρηθεί ότι περιέχει συμβουλές και συστάσεις χρηματοοικονομικές ή σε σχέση με φόρο επενδύσεων και την πραγματοποίηση συναλλαγών, ούτε αρχείο των τιμών διαπραγμάτευσής μας ούτε και προσφορά ή παρότρυνση για συναλλαγή οποιωνδήποτε χρηματοπιστωτικών μέσων ή ανεπιθύμητες προς εσάς προωθητικές ενέργειες.
Οποιοδήποτε περιεχόμενο τρίτων, καθώς και περιεχόμενο που εκπονείται από την ΧΜ, όπως απόψεις, ειδήσεις, έρευνα, αναλύσεις, τιμές, άλλες πληροφορίες ή σύνδεσμοι προς ιστότοπους τρίτων το οποίο περιέχεται σε αυτήν την ιστοσελίδα παρέχεται «ως έχει», ως γενικός σχολιασμός της αγοράς και δεν αποτελεί επενδυτική συμβουλή. Στον βαθμό που οποιοδήποτε περιεχόμενο ερμηνεύεται ως επενδυτική έρευνα, πρέπει να λάβετε υπόψη και να αποδεχτείτε ότι το περιεχόμενο δεν προοριζόταν και δεν έχει προετοιμαστεί σύμφωνα με τις νομικές απαιτήσεις που αποσκοπούν στην προώθηση της ανεξαρτησίας της επενδυτικής έρευνας και ως εκ τούτου, θα πρέπει να θεωρηθεί ως επικοινωνία μάρκετινγκ σύμφωνα με τους σχετικούς νόμους και κανονισμούς. Παρακαλούμε εξασφαλίστε ότι έχετε διαβάσει και κατανοήσει τη Γνωστοποίησή μας περί Μη ανεξάρτητης επενδυτικής έρευνας και την Προειδοποίηση κινδύνου όσον αφορά τις παραπάνω πληροφορίες, τις οποίες μπορείτε να βρείτε εδώ.
