6 months ago
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BARI: Leaders of the G7 nations turned their attention to
artificial intelligence
,
economic security
and migration on the second and final day of their summit Friday, as their delegations worked on a comprehensive joint communique touching on many of the world's major geopolitical and social challenges.
The gathering in a luxury resort in Italy's southern Puglia region also discussed other major topics, such as financial support for Ukraine, the war in Gaza, climate change, Iran, the situation in the Red Sea,
gender equality
as well as China's industrial policy.
The second day opened with a session on migration, a key issue to host Italy, which lies on one of the major routes into the EU for people fleeing war and poverty in Africa, West Asia and Asia.
Some divisions emerged, notably over the wording of the summit's final declaration, with disagreement over the lack of a reference to abortion. The statement after last year's summit in Hiroshima, Japan, expressed a commitment to provide access to safe and legal
abortion
, and pledged to defend gender equality and the rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community. The word "abortion" was not in the draft of this year's final communique seen by the AP, although a reference to promoting sexual and reproductive health rights was.
The issue sparked a diplomatic spat between right-wing Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and liberal French president Emmanuel Macron. Asked about the issue at a G7 presser Thursday, Macron noted the French parliament's vote earlier this year to enshrine the right of abortion in France's constitution. "These are not the same sensitivities that there are in your country today... I regret that but I respect it, because it was the sovereign choice of your people," he said. Meloni, who campaigned on a "God, Family, Fatherland" motto in Italy, hit back by noting Macron was facing upcoming legislative polls, saying it was "profoundly wrong" to use a G7 summit for "campaigning". The Meloni-Macron spat made front pages in Italy on Friday, threatening to overshadow the substance of the summit, which was focused on support for Ukraine. Her office was also forced to deny a report that a reference to LGBTQ rights had also been removed from the final statement, saying that it was "baseless".
The White House also weighed in on behalf of president Biden. "The president felt very strongly that we needed to have at the very least the language that references what we did in Hiroshima on women's reproductive rights," an official said.
