BARI: Since taking office in 2022, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proved a pragmatic partner on major international issues, assuaging fears she would be a dogmatic conservative unwilling to compromise.
But at the Group of Seven summit that she hosted in southern Italy this week, Meloni showed she had some red lines dear to her nationalist camp that she was ready to fight for, especially issues relating to the family and reproduction rights.
In the build-up to the June 13-15 summit, attention had been firmly focused on securing a deal on a multibillion-dollar loan for Ukraine, using frozen Russian assets, and creating ways to level the playing field in trade with China.
Broad consensus was found on both issues and hailed as proof of Western unity in the face of global challenges.
Then, out of the blue, diplomats revealed that Italy had demanded the removal of specific reference to “safe and legal abortion” from the final G7 statement and also wanted to water down language on vaccination funding.
Despite being isolated, Meloni largely got her way on both issues, using Italy’s position as rotating president of the wealthy nation club to lead the negotiations where it wanted, diplomats who followed the discussions told Reuters.
“Meloni is against abortion and always has been, so that was her red line and honestly we pushed early on. But when the presidency said ‘no’ that was that,” said a European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Like many arch-conservative groups in Europe and the United States, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party is opposed to abortions and calls for the promotion of traditional family values.
“She has thrown a bit of red meat to her supporters,” said Daniele Albertazzi, politics professor at Britain’s Surrey University and an expert in political populism.
“She wants to stress that she is not on the same page as some progressive leaders on these sort of issues because this is part of her identity and it has been diluted since she became prime minister,” he added.
French regret
French President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist who has clashed with Meloni in the past over social concerns, including migration, told reporters at the summit that he regretted the fact there was no longer specific reference to “abortion”.
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