According to Politico and The New York Times, the G7 summit was held in the southern Italian city of Puglia on the 13th. US media pointed out that this G7 summit was the “weakest” ever. Among the leaders of the seven countries, except for Italian Prime Minister Meroni who just won a landslide victory in the European Parliament elections, the leaders of the other six countries either fell behind in their own election polls or were embroiled in multiple scandals and internal troubles. “Rather than a gathering to show the strength of the West, this summit was more like the Last Supper.”

US President Biden arrived in Italy on a special plane on the 12th. Just the day before, his son Hunter was convicted of three felonies including illegal purchase and possession of guns, making Biden the first US president whose children were convicted while in office. On June 27, Biden will have the first debate with Trump in this year’s election. Biden’s approval rating is still behind Trump.

Uncertainties remain in US, UK and French elections

Agence France-Presse said this may be the last time that 81-year-old Biden attends the G7 summit, and Trump, who pursues an “America First” policy, may make a comeback. Demarays, a senior policy researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, said: “Europeans know that Trump can overturn any promise Biden makes.”

The UK will hold a general election on July 4. The Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is more than 20% behind the Labour Party in the polls, and the Labour Party is expected to return to power after 14 years. Daldry, who served as the US ambassador to NATO during Obama’s administration, described Sunak as a “walking corpse”.

In the just concluded European Parliament elections, both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Gerhard Scholz suffered a crushing defeat, and the far-right parties have further risen. Macron has announced the dissolution of the National Assembly and will hold elections at the end of this month. The outside world has compared this move to the Brexit referendum held by former British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2016. Regardless of the results of the National Assembly elections, Macron will serve as president for another three years, but his position has been weakened. This political gamble may force Macron to share power with the prime minister from the far-right National Rally.

Although Scholz has denied calling early elections, he is under constant pressure to step down. Scholz and the ruling coalition are equally unpopular, and the far-right Alternative for Germany party has jumped to second place among all German political parties in the European Parliament elections.

Canada will not hold a general election until next year. Trudeau, who has been prime minister for nearly nine years, has publicly stated that he wants to quit this “crazy job”. He said this week that populism and right-wing forces are rising in almost every “democratic country”, and “it is worrying to see political parties choose to exploit anger, fear, division and anxiety.” His poll results are also not optimistic. It is generally expected that Trudeau will lose to Conservative Party leader Poliev in the next general election.

In Japan, the only Asian member of the G7, affected by scandals such as black money, the latest opinion poll of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s cabinet has dropped to 16.4%, setting a new low since the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in 2012. Calls within the party for Kishida to step down are growing.

Only the host of this summit, Italian Prime Minister Meroni, was relatively relaxed. Meroni’s far-right party Brothers of Italy won the most seats in the European Parliament elections, making her one of the few EU leaders with stronger momentum after the elections. She will play a key role in shaping the future policy direction of the EU. However, Italy is only the world’s ninth largest economy and has limited influence on the international stage.

US and Europe disagree on division plan

The G7 leaders all have their own problems, and as the seven countries account for a smaller and smaller share of the global GDP, the outside world is questioning how much influence the G7 can still exert on global affairs. Foreign media revealed that the leaders of the seven countries agreed to provide Ukraine with a $50 billion loan by the end of this year using the interest earned from Russia’s frozen assets. Politico pointed out that the United States and European countries have major differences in the specific implementation of the plan.

A senior European diplomat revealed that the US proposal is: “We (the US) lend money, Europe bears all the risks, you (Europe) pay the interest, and we (the US) use the money for the US-Ukraine Fund.” The diplomat said: “We may be stupid, but not that stupid.”

European countries are angry about the US plan. They believe that it means they will be responsible for repaying the loans if anything goes wrong, and American companies will be the biggest beneficiaries. It is reported that Macron and Scholz will inform Biden that they reject the proposal for Europe to be the sole guarantor of the loan.

G7 leaders’ political status is unstable

US President Biden

•As the US election in November approaches, Biden’s approval rating still lags behind his opponent Trump. Biden’s son Hunter was found guilty of all three felony charges this week, dealing another fatal blow to Biden’s re-election campaign.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

•The UK will hold a general election on July 4. The Conservative Party led by Sunak is more than 20% behind the Labour Party in the polls. Sunak tried to win over voters with a tax cut plan, but economic analysis agencies said the plan was impossible to achieve.

French President Emmanuel Macron

•In the just concluded European Parliament elections, the vote share of the Ennahda Party led by Macron was less than half of that of the far-right National Rally. Macron has dissolved the National Assembly and will hold elections at the end of this month, which is seen as a gamble on his own political future.

German Chancellor Scholz

•The Social Democratic Party, to which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz belongs, suffered its biggest defeat in European Parliament elections, while the far-right Alternative for Germany party jumped to second place among all German political parties in terms of vote share.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

• Canada will hold a general election next year, and Trudeau is widely expected to lose to Conservative Party leader Poleyev.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

•Affected by the black money scandal, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s cabinet’s latest poll rating has dropped to 16.4%, setting a new record low since the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in 2012. Calls within the party for Kishida to step down are growing.

Italian Prime Minister Meroni

• Meroni’s far-right party Brothers of Italy won a landslide victory in the European Parliament elections, further enhancing her status on the international stage. However, Italy’s influence in the G7 is not as strong as that of other major countries, and what it can do is limited.