G7 Summit: A video showing tensions between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron is widely shared on social media.
The video shows Meloni rolling her eyes at Macron and the two sharing a ‘not so welcoming’ handshake. This came just hours after Meloni and Macron disagreed on the language to include on abortion rights, following the G7 leaders’ omission of a direct reference to abortion in their final communique, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
#WATCH | Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni ackwardly handshakes french president Emmanuel Macron: pic.twitter.com/QuOnDzRhBw
— VOZ (@Voz_US) June 14, 2024
The report said Italy refused to give in to French pressure to include the word.
The draft also led to accusations that it weakened support for LGBTQ rights compared to the previous statement from the leaders’ meeting. The abortion issue caused a diplomatic clash between Rome and Paris, with Meloni accusing Macron of trying to gain political points before a national election in France.
In 2017, a candid moment between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel went viral when Merkel appeared to roll her eyes at Putin. With one hand in his pocket and the other gesturing emphatically, Putin seemed to be discussing a topic that Merkel found uninteresting, judging by her reaction.
G7 Summit In Hiroshima
According to Reuters, the draft G7 statement upheld the leaders’ commitments from their summit in Hiroshima last year to ensure women have universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services.
However, the 2023 communique removed the specific mention of “access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care.” Italy, holding the G7’s rotating presidency this year, said there was no need to repeat the language since they had already reiterated their Hiroshima pledge.
