AS ITALY prepares to host the G8 summit opening this morning in the earthquake-struck Abruzzo town of L’Aquila, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini moved quickly yesterday to deny media speculation that Italy might be about to lose its place in the G8 club.
A report in the Guardian claimed that preparations for the summit have been “so chaotic there is growing pressure from other member states to have Italy expelled from the group”.
In particular, the newspaper claims that, “in the absence of substantive initiatives on the agenda”, the US has taken control of the summit, organising “sherpa” calls (conference calls among senior officials).
Speaking from Bucharest, however, Mr Frattini said that the speculation was totally without foundation, adding that he hoped the Guardian would lose its place among the leading newspapers in the world.
Furthermore, officials at the Italian Foreign Office suggested yesterday that there may be a certain confusion over the “sherpa” call since such a conference call had indeed taken place this week but that it concerned the forthcoming G20 meeting in Pittsburgh.
The build-up to this summit has been dominated by a good deal of tension between the government of Silvio Berlusconi and sections of the foreign press, accused by the prime minister of taking a “gutter-press” approach to an important summit due to consider issues of strategic importance for world governance.
Furthermore, Italian media reports suggest that the prime minister is worried that any news conference held by him could be derailed by insistent questions in relation to the “call girl” scandal, involving late night parties in his private residences, that has dominated sections of the Italian media for much of the last month.
The Berlusconi government, too, is particularly keen to avoid a rerun of the sort of violence which marred the last G8 in Italy, namely in Genoa in 2001 when one protester was killed. Although 10 people were arrested in Rome yesterday during an anti-G8 protest, Franco Gabrielli, the senior policeman in L’Aquila, said that he expected protests in the Abruzzo town over the next three days to pass off peacefully.
Interior minister Roberto Maroni touched on the same theme yesterday, saying: “We will guarantee freedom of expression but if anyone tries to bring along iron bars, fire extinguishers or heavy metal objects, we will do everything we can to stop them taking part in the marches”.
While the world’s leaders are meeting in L’Aquila today, the First Ladies (minus Carla Bruni Sarkozy) are scheduled to have a busy day in Rome, where they will be received by Pope Benedict XVI, by President Giorgio Napolitano and by Rome mayor Gianni Alemano. In the absence of Mrs Berlusconi, who two months ago announced that she was divorcing her husband, the First Ladies will be hosted by minister for equal opportunity Maria Carfagna, a former topless model and showgirl and close political ally of Mr Berlusconi.