Rome weighs in on the G-7 Tokyo declaration. On Friday, the Group of Seven’s Japanese chairmanship accepted an amendment to its final communiqué made by Lorenzo Fontana, President of the Lower House of the Italian Parliament. It was the only tabled amendment that sought to focus the G-7’s attention on the African continent and the Mediterranean area.
- The measure tabled by President Fontana extends the forum’s commitment to contribute to the stability and prosperity of Africa and the Mediterranean and to expand parliamentary exchanges across the continents.
- As Italy prepares to take up the mantle from Japan in 2024, this is a strong indication of the priorities it’s set to highlight (along with the G-7’s support to Ukraine, including through reconstruction, and frontier issues like artificial intelligence).
Mind the context. President Fontana’s amendment was accepted right after the closing of the first Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, and just ahead of the opening of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India – both fora where the issues raised by the Italian politician are pivotal to the conversation. Historically, Italy has always pushed to link the G-7 and G-20 work, and the amendment goes in the same direction.
- To this end, the government’s soon-to-be-unveiled Mattei Plan for Africa and the outcomes of the Italy-Africa Summit in early November will outline Italy’s approach to the region.
- It’s also worth remembering that Rome has been building up its ties with Taipei through parliamentary diplomacy, which hints at what Italy means by the reference to parliamentary exchanges and highlights the country’s growing Indo-Pacific projection.
