G7 of Parliaments opens in Verona, Metsola extols Ukraine’s resilience for global security

Brussels – The 22nd G7 of Parliaments opened in Verona, the event that brings together the leaders of the lower chambers of the world’s seven great nations. Welcoming them was not Premier Giorgia Meloni, who remained in Rome at the last moment, but Lorenzo Fontana, President of the Chamber of Deputies and a native of the Verona city itself. In the morning, Roberta Metsola spoke, reminding colleagues of “the importance and relevance” of the event because “the influence, principles, and actions” of the G7 “serve as global references.”

The themes leaders will focus on have a clear common denominator: security, which has become “a leitmotif of our discussions,” Metsola pointed out. The new global geopolitical balances and access to strategic resources, the relationship with Africa and the Mediterranean, and the risks posed by the advance of artificial intelligence are the points on which the final declaration scheduled at the end of the three-day summit will focus. As witnessed by the presence, as an observer, of Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Kyiv Parliament, the focus could only be Ukraine.

“Ukrainians are not just fighting for their security but for us and the values we share,” Metsola said. If the goal of the G7 is to “work for a peaceful and safer world,” then the role of national parliaments, the homes of democracy, is paramount: “Threats to the democratic world order,” warned the EU leader, “find fertile ground where democracy is most needed. A warning echoed by Stefanchuk, who recalled how Moscow’s aggression “is testing not only us but all of you”.

Prime Minister Meloni said in a video link that the West “is not a fortress that wants or needs to defend itself from something or someone,” but “an offer of values open to the outside,” which wants to build the conditions for shared development with global partners. In opening the proceedings, Meloni recalled that G7 governments exercise their “irreplaceable role in the defense of freedom and democracy” by following the guidelines of their respective parliaments, “where popular sovereignty finds its highest expression.” Therefore, according to the premier, “the development and strengthening of the parliamentary dimension of the G7 is an added value.”

Not just politics. From the Palazzo del Podestà, the seat of Verona’s prefecture chosen for the proceedings, in Piazza Dante, the delegation will be accompanied by Fontana to the Arena, where they will attend a performance of The Barber of Seville in the evening. Tomorrow (Sept. 7), the leaders will also stop at the iconic Juliet’s Balcony before heading to a villa in Valpolicella for lunch.