Conflicts
G7 agenda changed after suspected attack on Iran
What will be said in the G7’s final declaration on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East is eagerly awaited. photo
© Britta Pedersen/dpa
The last day of the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Capri was actually supposed to be about cyber security and China. But after reports of an Israeli attack on Iran, the Middle East is back in focus.
According to US media reports, one or more Israeli missiles attacked a target in Iran on Friday night, a counterattack after the massive Iranian attack on Israel last weekend. There have been no reports of damage so far.
At the end of the three-day meeting in Capri, the main focus was on the relationship with China, cyber security and energy supply. The critical nutritional situation in many countries around the world should also become an issue. However, developments in the Middle East had already been an important topic before. The G7 warned Israel and Iran several times of escalation.
Relationship with China
With a view to China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific region, Baerbock had already stated at the start of the meeting that this was felt not only by the G7’s Pacific neighbors such as the USA, Canada and Japan, but also by Europe. The authoritarian People’s Republic has been gaining international importance in both the economic and political fields for several years.
At the invitation of the current chairman Italy, the heads of state and government of the Group of Seven will meet in mid-June in the south of the country for their annual summit. The foreign ministers will then meet again in November. The group includes the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, France, Italy and Germany.
Baerbock on military aid to Kiev: “We can’t do magic”
What will be said in the traditional final declaration on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East is also eagerly awaited. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) said on ZDF’s “heute journal” that in view of the devastating Russian air strikes on Ukraine, more Western military aid is needed. “Around the world we need to scrape together the air defenses we have.” She vigorously rejected criticism that the EU was hesitant to provide military support. “We’re not waiting for anything. We just can’t do witchcraft and magic,” she said.
At the end of the EU summit in Brussels, Chancellor Scholz said that he had asked for further deliveries of anti-aircraft systems there. According to him, Ukraine has specifically asked for seven additional Patriot systems. Now that Germany has promised one, it is to be hoped that six more will be found in other NATO states.