BORGO EGNAZIA — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday (June 15) hailed the achievements of the Group of Seven summit she chaired and dismissed talk of a row about abortion rights as confected.

Meloni was speaking at the end of the June 13 to 15 G7 summit in southern Italy, which was focused on an agreement to provide an additional US$50 billion (S$68 billion) loan for Ukraine and a stern warning for China on the need for fair competition in business.

Meloni, who heads a right-wing coalition, denied that she had weakened a G7 commitment to abortion rights or support for the LGBTQ community as enshrined in the final communique released at last year's G7 meeting in Japan.

She said there had been no backsliding on either issue, and that language previously adopted by the G7 did not have to be reproduced verbatim.

"I sincerely believe that the controversy was totally contrived," she told a news conference when asked about the abortion issue and reported differences with other G7 nations.

Related

---