Europe Italy Africa

BRUSSELS, 13 June 2024 / PRN Africa / -- I would like to thank Giorgia Meloni and the Italian presidency for their hospitality here in Italy. This meeting is extremely important because we will address four important challenges.

Firstly, we want to support Ukraine, and we want to make decisions to provide more immediate financial support for Ukraine so that they can defend themselves.

Secondly, we want to support international humanitarian law in the Middle East. We have three main goals. The first is an immediate ceasefire, and we are supporting all the efforts made by the mediators to make possible this ceasefire and the release of all hostages. Second, we have to facilitate humanitarian access. The situation is tragic, and it is our responsibility to deploy the maximum effort to provide more humanitarian assistance on the ground. And third, we believe in a two-state solution. Peace and security go hand in hand, and that’s why we need to relaunch a political track for making possible the two-state solution as soon as possible.

The third important challenge we will discuss here in Italy is migration. This is a common challenge, and this is the route that we intend to put in place together with our partners - a coalition to fight against the smugglers and the criminal groups which are abusing vulnerable people to make money and to destabilise countries and regions across the world. We need more cooperation with third countries, which we have started to do at the European Union level, and we continue to follow this approach.

And fourth, we will discuss Africa. Africa is an important continent for all of us. Demography in Africa is a challenge. Conflicts, wars on this continent, the need to invest in infrastructure, in telecoms, in digital, but also in the energy sector. This continent is facing extraordinarily difficult challenges in the fight against poverty. They also have to face the consequences of climate change, and they need more access to capital. We must be on their side. We have to build partnerships based on trust, respect, and mutual confidence. And we can no longer avoid opening a serious debate on multilateralism, and especially on multilateral development banks. There is a need for more fairness and inclusivity.

This G7 meeting, with the most advanced economies in the world, is an important moment for more cooperation, more coordination and to make sure that the fundamental values we have in common are values that we promote throughout the world.

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SOURCE European Council