The G7 ritual is repeated in Borgo Egnazia amidst the charm and beauty of the South. The greats of Western democracies return to see each other in Italy after seven years
The work of the G7 2024 has begun Borgo Egnazia in the province of Brindisi. We’ll see you again in Italy after 7 years. In truth, the institutional positions are reviewed, of the people who held the positions of Heads of State or Government we only find 2. The last time in Taormina, in 2017, there were President Macron and the Canadian Trudeau, but everyone else has changed. There are no more Germans Merkel (unbelievable but true), the American Trump (for now…), Japanese Shinzo Abe (alas murdered in 2022), the British Teresa May (second female prime minister in her country after Thatcher) and the two Europeans Donald Tusk (European Council) e Juncker (European Commission), as well as of course ours Paolo Gentiloni. They were replaced respectively by Olaf Scholz (Germany), Joe Biden (USA), Fumio Kiscida (Japan), Rishi Sunak (UK), Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen (European Institutions) and, of course, hostess Giorgia Meloni .
The origins of the G7 date back to 1975, the year of the first meeting held in Rambouillet (France), which was actually attended by 6 people, excluding Canada. From 1997 to 2013 it transformed into the G8, with temporary enlargement to include Russia, and then returned to the “7” formula from 2014. Italy was the organizing country 7 times: the first two in Venice, then Naples, Genoa, L’Aquila, Taormina and now Borgo Egnazia. Before this edition, host Prime Ministers were Francesco Cossiga (Venice 1980), Amintore Fanfani (Venice 1987), Silvio Berlusconi (Naples 1994, Genoa 2001 and L’Aquila 2009), Paolo Gentiloni (Taormina 2017). Of each of these moments a special memory remains: the infinite beauty of the lagoon city, the miraculous make-up of the Neapolitan capital with the splendid images of the Royal Palace of Caserta which hosted the official dinner, the horrendous acts of violence in Genoa, the sudden decision to host world leaders in L’Aquila immediately after the earthquake, the natural setting of the fascinating Taormina.
The master of ceremonies who writes has memories of the L’Aquila and Taormina editions. The first went down in history for Berlusconi’s sudden decision to transfer the summit from the planned beaches of La Maddalena to the Abruzzo city devastated by the earthquake. The logo drew a picture of sea turtles in homage to the sea of Sardinia, but the real setting was that of the Abruzzo mountains and the ruins of the capital. That place of mourning, of solemn funerals for the victims of the earthquake, of emergency, of operational management of civil protection to manage the post-earthquake, became an international stage, with a gym transformed into an evocative plenary room for leaders’ meetings, the accommodation of the students of the School of Inspectors and Superintendents of the Guardia di Finanza intended for the hospitality of delegations, the auditorium equipped as a room for press conferences and the service and office area transformed into a press room.
In the summit enclosure they circulated in the electric cars provided Nicolas Sarkozy, Gordon Brown, Dmitrij Medvedev, Barak Obama and the usual Angela Merkelbut also added guests, such as Mubarak (without nephew), the Spaniard ZapateroTurkish Erdogan (who is also still firmly in his place today) and the Libyan leader Gaddafi. Of that edition, the leaders’ visits to the ruins of the historic center and in particular the image of Berlusconi and Obama in front of the remains of the city’s prefecture will remain imprinted.
Barack Obama and Silvio Berlusconi in L’Aquila in 2009
From the destruction of L’Aquila we moved on seven years later to the Mediterranean splendor of Taormina, with an official photo taken inside the Greek theatre. On this occasion, the historic village in the center of Etna was practically seized by the organization and security needs. All citizens were given badges, many businesses preferred to close during the days of the invasion, but it was a great celebration of welcome and participation. The Sicilian choice was born from the government’s desire (Renzi’s idea implemented by Gentiloni) to expose to the world a great organizational and receptive capacity, in addition to the extraordinary beauty, planted in a small municipality in the South. To signify that the South knows how to keep up with the times, knows how to present itself on the main scenarios of the planet, knows how to enchant the world with its charm, cultural depth, wonderful landscapes. Think of the image of the Frecce Tricolori coming up from the sea and whizzing very close to the Taormina hill, and all the leaders with their noses in the air admiring the show from the terraces of the Hotel San Domenico, venue of the summit.
Today, seven years later, the G7 has returned to Southern Italy, among the olive trees and farms of Puglia. The traditional family photo includes glimpses of the panorama projected into the deep blue of the sea and the severe silhouette of Etna to a simpler background of small trees and a solid olive tree trunk, in an equally evocative setting. In these days a pressing program is underway among the greats of the world of the moment, with plenary meetings around a round table covered with rustic precious essence, official lunches and dinners (one is traditionally offered by the President of the Republic), great work for the sherpa, bilateral meetings during breaks, official photos and meetings with the press. Among the leaders, smiles and pats on the back to demonstrate that we are great friends and photos, many improvised photos, to enrich the relationship book. The most significant contents will emerge in apparently informal chats, more than in bilateral meetings and in timed and timed plenary sessions. Between an aperitif and a joke, we withdraw for a few minutes and face an important and delicate topic face to face, in search of an agreement on which the diplomats will then get to work. There is no shortage of hot topics, from ongoing wars (Zelensky has also arrived), to climate change, in a scenario undoubtedly conditioned by the recent European vote and the expectations around the next votes around the world, among which the one to elect the future stands out President of the United States.
But the great news this year is that June 14th will be remembered as a historic date in the G7 agendas, because for the first time it participates Pope francesco. In the space of about 8 hours the pontiff has scheduled a speech in the joint session and about ten bilateral meetings. The will of the organizers is to involve him on the theme ofartificial intelligence, but certainly the topics that are closest to His Holiness’s heart are those of peace and poverty. We are certain that with his unequivocal style he will not resort to useless and diplomatic turns of phrase with his interlocutors.
Therefore, in addition to the presence of the Pope, perhaps this G7 in Borgo Egnazia will above all be remembered for the typical setting of our Noon which will conquer its space as a protagonist. Nothing to do with the many anonymous and improvised warehouses in which other countries have honored their commitment to host similar events in the past. And then it doesn’t want to seem like partisanship if, out of 50 editions of this type of multilateral summit, it is difficult to find as much beauty and emotion as those produced in our beautiful country.
*formerly responsible for the State Ceremonial Office and for the Honors of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers which saw seven prime ministers parade at Palazzo Chigi, from Silvio Berlusconi to Mario Draghi, passing through Mario Monti, Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni, Giuseppe Conte.
#significant #contents #informal #chats