TAORMINA, Sicily (AP)—French President Emmanuel Macron has detailed his top priorities at the G-7, which include climate change and trade.
At a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday, Macron insisted on the need for “reciprocity” on trade and said Europeans sometimes had a “too naive” approach on trade deals.
The two leaders also found common ground on terrorism, following the attack on a pop concert in Manchester that killed 22 people. Macron offered his condolences for the Manchester attack, calling for increased European cooperation against terror “because they attack our young.”
That comment also referred to the Nice truck attack last summer that killed children and young families at a fireworks display, as well as the attack on a concert at the Bataclan theater in Paris.
Macron spoke fluent English, which is very unusual for a French president.
Tusk says be ‘tough’ on terrorism
The chairman of the European Union’s council agreed with President Donald Trump that the international community should be “tough, even brutal” on terrorism and Islamic State.
European Council President Donald Tusk said terrorism was one of the main topics between EU officials and Trump during his visit to Brussels, especially in the wake of the Manchester pop concert bombing.
Tusk said that “I totally agreed with him when he said the international community, the G7, the United States, Europe—should be tough, even brutal, with terrorism and ISIS” an acronym for the extremist group fighting in Syria and Iraq.
Tusk spoke at the start of a meeting of the Group of Seven democracies in Taormina, Sicily.
Italian host says trade, migrants, climate change should be settled
Italy’s leader pushed for the G-7 summit to issue a strong statement on both fighting climate change and on handling the vast flow of migrants and refugees in need of help around the world.
Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni, the host of this year’s G-7 summit in Taormina, Sicily, spoke Friday as the two-day summit of the world’s wealthy democracies began.
Gentiloni says “We will make an important declaration today here in Taormina on climate change, on great migrant flows, on free trade in the world on which so many jobs depend and the future prospects for our economy.”
The Italian leader says the talks won’t be easy but “the spirit of Taormina will help push us in the right direction.”
