Italy lays out G-7 agenda. “Our main objective is to strengthen the role of the G-7 as a factor of stability apt to respond to serious international crises,” said FM Tajani during Wednesday’s question time at the Chamber of Deputies. Rome intends to work for a “two peoples, two States solution” in the Middle East, he added, while also confirming the G-7’s “strong and united […] support to Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.”
- “Kyiv must continue to count on our commitment towards a just and lasting peace, one that includes a view on reconstruction,” remarked FM Tajani.
- He then recalled Italy’s other priorities (including Africa and migration, artificial intelligence and the Indo-Pacific), stressing that Rome will work to support businesses by facilitating their access to international markets “under fairer conditions of competition and developing more flexible, transparent and secure supply chains to reduce dependencies in strategic sectors and materials.”
Talking G-7 with colleagues. In these first days of the Italian G-7 Presidency, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has been working the phones to get in touch with his counterparts and discuss the forum’s guidelines for 2024. On Wednesday, he spoke with Japan’s Yoko Kamikawa, with the two also touching upon the main ongoing crises – i.e. Ukraine and the Middle East – while continuing to prioritise the challenges of the Indo-Pacific.
- Earlier, the Italian FM had phone conversations with the United Kingdom and France’s Lord David Cameron and Catherine Colonna, as well as with his Canadian counterpart Melanie Jolie.
- Germany’s Annalena Baerbock, the only one missing, is expecting a call in the coming days.
- FM Tajani’s round of talks had begun on Tuesday with the United States’ Antony Blinken, to whom he said that the “deep friendship that binds Rome and Washington will allow us to converge with the other G-7 partners on concrete actions that will benefit everyone.”
- Ambassador Luca Ferrari, G-7 and G-20 sherpa for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, is currently on a mission in the United States. The diplomat’s agenda comprises meetings with the National Security Council, the State Department and Washington-based international financial institutions.
