Preparations are underway in the Brindisi area, in front of Borgo Egnazia, for the G7 in Puglia which will begin next week. Heliports and other areas of the Air Force were set up for the occasion. But the organization and coordination of the event generates some concern, especially on the part of pacifists.
«With concern and regret, we turn to the coordination of C7 associations which aims to represent civil society at the G7. We believe that this coordination fails to be representative of the commitment and ideas of civil society fighting for global peace and rights. We believe that its claim to represent the entire panorama of the eco-pacifist and solidarity movement in the face of the gathering of the great world powers risks producing an involuntary delegitimization of those realities that instead want to fundamentally criticize the G7 as the center of Western economic and military power” . This was underlined in an open letter addressed to the G7 coordination, a network of NGOs that dialogues with the G7, Father Alex Zanotelli (Italian missionary part of the Comboni missionary community, founder of various Italian movements aimed at creating conditions of peace and solidarity justice) , the president of the pacifist and ecologist association Peacelink Alessandro Marescotti, Domenico Gallo (former cassationist magistrate), Carlo Gubitosa (writer and journalist) Francesco Iannuzzelli (engineer expert in big data and technical coordinator of Peacelink), Elio Pagani (conscientious objector to war work, president of «Down with War») and Peppe Sini (head of the Research Center for Peace and Human Rights of Viterbo).
«We are greatly perplexed – they add – by the text drawn up by this coordination and by the superficial approach with which the issues of the fight against war and disarmament are treated, omitting the strong dissent of the pacifists against the sending of weapons to Israel and Ukraine. Its drafting lacked an open and transparent participatory process and does not reflect the multiplicity of voices and the different demands that make up civil society.” According to the signatories of the letter, «the C7 document is deliberately non-conflictual with the G7 and in fact calls for a constructive dialogue. Expecting the G7 to promote peace and disarmament by delivering a constructive document is like recommending the sheep to the wolf.”
The Pope at the G7 for peace, Yermak in the Vatican
The construction of concrete paths to peace is among the priorities of Pope Francis who is preparing to take part, the first Pontiff in history, in the G7 which will be held next week in Puglia. The Pope should be in Borgo Egnazia on Friday 14th, only for a few hours, even if the Vatican has not yet made the details of the Pope’s presence official. Francis will talk about artificial intelligence but it is clear that he will bring his request to the world’s great leaders to put every possible measure for peace is in place. And after the moment of prayer for the Middle East, yesterday in the Vatican Gardens, in which he brought together the ambassadors of Israel and Palestine at the foot of the olive tree planted ten years ago with Shimon Peres and Abu Mazen, today instead the spotlight is on Ukraine. In fact, the Pope received Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, in the Vatican.
«It was an important conversation. I informed His Holiness about the philosophy of President Zelensky’s Peace Formula, explaining that this is the only way to a just peace”, informs Yermak himself. Kiev is looking to the G7 but above all to the Summit for Peace in Ukraine which will be held in June in Switzerland, and to the meeting for the reconstruction of the country which will be held next week in Berlin. «For us, the participation of the Holy See is of fundamental importance», comments the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See Andrii Yurash. At the center of the meeting between the Pope and Yermak was also the issue of the return home of Ukrainian children deported to Russia and the exchange of prisoners. Zelensky’s head of Cabinet also met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and the Pope’s envoy for peace in Ukraine, Card. Matteo Zuppi. The Ukrainian ambassador reports that Cardinal Parolin will be present at the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, while at next week’s event in Berlin (Ukraine Recovery Conference) for the Holy See there will be Monsignor Daniel Pacho, undersecretary of the Secretariat of State.
Then there is the humanitarian mission conducted in recent months by Card. Zuppi, aimed above all at the return home of many Ukrainian children who were deported to Russia during the months of war. «We are doing everything we can to bring them home, the Pope expressed his support for Ukraine, I thanked him sincerely», says Yermak again.
As for a possible bilateral meeting between the Pope and President Zelensky as part of the G7 in Puglia, this is not confirmed to date. Instead, the Pope will almost certainly meet face to face with US President Joe Biden, who has a leading role not only due to the war in Ukraine but also due to the difficult situation in the Middle East
G7, also table tennis and table football in the Media Center relaxation room in Bari
Dtante srl will manage the relaxation room of the Media Center set up in the Fiera del Levante in Bari on the occasion of the G7. The company from Francavilla Fontana (Brindisi), specialized in the entertainment equipment sector, will furnish the area reserved for accredited journalists at the international meeting scheduled in Borgo Egnazia from 13 to 15 June, with a ping-pong table, a table football and a pinball machine. After all, the company underlines, «the game has always been a driving force for socialization and who knows, at table tennis, healthy competitions could arise between journalists of different nationalities; perhaps waiting to know the name of the journalist capable of hitting the world record at Indiana Jones pinball, the great Williams classic, or to applaud the ‘national team that will lift the virtual table football champion trophy». Game, but not only. Journalists and information workers from all over the world will have access to the Media Center. “The level of security – observes Desistenza srl - will be maximum, as will the work commitment to which the information professionals in the field will be called”.
The room will be set up following the instructions provided by the organization of the international summit. There is also a common work area for printing with catering service.
