Today, June 13, the Italian G7 summit begins in Puglia, in Borgo Egnazia. Already yesterday evening, however, the first controversy arose before the summit had even started. EU sources reported that Italy was opposed to including the importance of ensuring “effective and safe access to abortion” in the final document. But Palazzo Chigi denied it.
The Italian G7 has begun: in the next three days, from 13 to 15 June, the heads of state or government of seven of the most powerful countries in the world will be gathered in Borgo Egnazia, in Puglia, and will discuss various themes proposed by the Italian agenda. A few hours before the summit began, however, the first real diplomatic controversy regarding the presidency of Italy broke out. So far, the only case that had attracted attention was the ship in poor condition that had hosted the security officers. But here we are talking about a much more delicate topic: access to abortion.
Yesterday evening, in fact, European sources had reported that in the final declaration of the meeting a point explicitly dedicated to the voluntary termination of pregnancy had disappeared, with which the seven world powers wanted to reiterate the importance of guaranteeing a “effective and safe access to abortion“. The same EU sources underlined that the point was wanted above all by France and Canada, also to take a step forward compared to last year’s G7 document, which spoke of “legal and safe access”.
Precisely on the occasion of the last G7, Canadian President Trudeau had openly criticized Giorgia Meloni’s position on civil rights. In recent weeks, the topic has returned to the center of debate in Italy when the government allowed pro-life associations to enter counseling centers. Not surprisingly, the hypothesis that circulated yesterday was that it was indeed the Italian representation to get in the way and to ask that the point on abortion be removed. It was not clear whether it was also a choice linked to the Pope’s presence at this year’s G7.
What will be discussed at the G7 summit in Puglia under the presidency of Italy
This is a delicate aspect not only because the topic is always highly debated, but also because at least two of the presidents who will be present at the G7 are currently in the middle of a election campaign: Emmanuel Macron in France, where abortion was inserted into the Constitution a few months ago, and Joe Biden in the United States, where in recent years the Supreme Court (largely appointed by Donald Trump when he was in office) has weakened the right legal termination of pregnancy.
Also for this reason, therefore, diplomatic tensions immediately rose when it seemed that Italy wanted to take a step back. Yesterday evening, sources from Palazzo Chigi intervened to defuse tensions, but did not close the issue: “No State has requested the removal of the reference to issues relating to abortion from the draft conclusions of the G7 summit”, they specified.
However, “the negotiation dynamics are still ongoing”. On the other hand, the Sherpas who actually manage the negotiations have been in Puglia since Monday, and their work will continue without interruption until the last hours of Friday: the document will be presented on Saturday morning at a press conference by Giorgia Meloni. “Everything that will enter into the final document will be a final drop point the result of a negotiation between the G7 members”, Palazzo Chigi further specified. In short, no veto, but not even a reassurance on the issue of abortion.
