Six lame ducks and Giorgia Meloni: Biden and other G7 leaders face political danger at home as Italy’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ lovable PM takes center stage as power broker

When President Joe Biden joined his fellow G7 leaders for a family photo on Thursday, almost all of them escaped political danger at home for a brief getaway at the luxury resort on the Italian coast.

In fact, this year’s meeting in Italy is the weakest gathering of leaders the group has seen in decades. Everyone but Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is facing a tough election, a domestic crisis or political danger – in some cases all of the above.

The G7 meeting comes less than a week after far-right parties dominated the European Parliament elections, signaling that next year’s gathering could face a whole new crop of leaders backing Meloni.

That does not bode well for their agenda for the next two days, which includes the war in Ukraine, the battle in the Middle East and China’s quest for global dominance. Some leaders will hesitate to make commitments if they face angry voters at home.

“With the exception of Meloni, the leaders at the G7 summit are all quite weak,” Ivo Daalder, who served as U.S. ambassador to NATO under former President Barack Obama, told Politico.

“Trudeau is probably not going to win the next election. Biden has a tough election race. Scholz is weakened. Macron is weakened. Sunak is a ‘dead man walking’, and Kishida also has serious problems at home.’

Although the G7 is scheduled to continue on Saturday, most leaders, including Biden, will leave on Friday evening.

Here’s a look at the situation at home for the G7 leaders:

US President Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden

Nervous world leaders are keeping a close eye on the upcoming US elections, wondering whether it will be Joe Biden or Biden Trump who will join the G7 meeting in Canada next year.

Trump leads in the key battleground states that will determine who will be the next occupant of the White House. The former president was a critic of world alliances such as NATO and the G7. And world leaders don’t see him as a reliable ally in Ukraine, the Middle East or, well, anything else.

Biden, 81, faces his first presidential debate with Trump, less than two weeks after returning from Italy. And he arrived at the G7 the day after his son Hunter Biden was convicted of lying about his drug use to illegally buy a gun.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan played down the political concerns in a briefing with reporters on Thursday.

“The great thing about the G7 is that we are all democracies, so the leaders here don’t have to choose day in and day out how things go politically in their country, they leave that to the people of their country,” he said.

“But at the same time, I think the president, like the other leaders of the G7, who are fresh from the elections, wants them to focus on the task at hand.”

Sullivan added that Biden is “going to put aside the broader election context and really focus on the work that needs to be done here, and he’s going to measure a successful G7 by whether or not we make tangible progress on those issues.” have booked.’

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is waging a snap election campaign that he has orchestrated in an attempt to turn around his sagging political fortunes.

But he has made a series of major public relations mistakes — including leaving last week’s D-Day ceremony early to conduct a TV interview — that has sent him sinking lower and lower.

Polls show the July 4 election will result in a centre-left landslide for Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer.

Sunak’s Conservative party has had a difficult time in Britain with the consequences of Brexit.

The Prime Minister had to call the elections before the end of this year and there didn’t seem to be a good time for that, but every campaign move he tried seemed to backfire, leading most experts to predict a huge loss for him.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Justin Trudeau, who has been Canada’s prime minister for nine years, is in danger of losing the coming elections to his main challenger, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

Trudeau, who faces low approval ratings at home, must call an election within a year.

He is expected to run for a fourth term, but his polls are worse than Biden’s: he has trailed his rivals by double digits for almost a year.

He has lamented the rising political tide on the right.

“Around the world, we have seen a rise of populist right-wing forces in virtually every democracy,” Trudeau said Monday. “It is worrying to see that political parties choose to instrumentalize anger, fear, division and anxiety.”

French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron

French president Emmanuel Macron called for early elections after his rival Marine Le Pen‘s far-right National Rally (RN) crushed his party in the European elections.

Le Pen’s party won twice as many parliamentary seats as Macron’s. She, like Trump, has nationalist, anti-immigration as her agenda.

Many French voters used the EU elections to express their dissatisfaction with Macron’s management of the economy, agricultural rules or security.

Macron has dissolved the French National Assembly and the elections will take place in two rounds: June 30 and July 7.

He said his decision was a last-ditch effort to keep the far right out of power.

‘Everyone sees the waters of the extreme right rising. Everyone says Macron will hand them the keys to power. “I don’t want to give them the keys to power in 2027,” he said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, like Macron, was criticized by far-right nationalists during the European Parliament elections last weekend.

There are concerns that he could soon be deposed himself.

He has presided over the most unpopular government in modern German history.

Projections put support for Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats at 14%, their worst post-World War II showing in a nationwide vote.

His party came third and although he has not called for new elections, he is under political pressure to do so.

Also a point of concern: the extreme right Alternative for Germany despite a series of good gains scandals around the two best candidates for the EU legislative body.

For many, that is especially sobering given Germany’s Nazi past.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is facing his lowest personal approval ratings ahead of a leadership contest later this year.

He faced calls to resign after a political funding scandal damaged his Liberal Democratic Party.

But so far he has refused.

What hurts him is the fact that members of his own party are losing in down-ballot elections. And in April, his party lost all three seats in parliament.

His cabinet is facing record low approval ratings.

He had reportedly considered calling early elections, in which a ruling bloc victory would help him advance in the ruling party’s leadership battle in September. The head of the ruling party simultaneously serves as prime minister.

But he has not yet called for elections and it is unclear when he will do so.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is politically the most secure of all the leaders she receives.

Her party did well in last week’s elections, even improving its performance from the 26% it won in the 2022 general election.

She positions herself as one of the most powerful leaders in the European Union, but Italy is not considered a world power, calling into question the limits of her influence.

Meloni was a big fan of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and other works by British writer JRR Tolkien and dressed up as a hobbit.

“I think Tolkien can say better than us what conservatives believe in,” Melon said shortly after her election.

She regards the books as sacred text.

“I don’t take into account the fantasy of ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” she said.

Her party performed well in last week’s European elections, further strengthening its power.

She has expanded this year’s G7 meeting to invite leaders from several other countries, including Ukraine, Turkey, India, Argentina, Brazil, Algeria and Kenya.

Saudi Arabia is participating in a G7 summit for the first time.

Pope Francis, who will lead the discussion on AI, is guest of honor.