Giorgia Meloni stares at Emmanuel Macron, colder-than-Arctic handshake follows, video is viral

An interaction between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron, showing tensions between the two, is widely being shared on social media.

The video, showing Meloni appearing to roll her eyes at Macron, and a ‘not so welcoming’ handshake between the two, came hours after Meloni and Macron clashed over specific language to include on abortion rights, after the G7 leaders made no direct reference to abortion in their final communique on Friday, according to a draft seen by news agency Reuters.

The report said Italy refused to bow to French pressure to include the word.

The draft also sparked accusations of watering down support for LGBTQ rights compared with the statement issued at the leaders’ previous meeting.

The abortion issue caused a diplomatic spat between Rome and Paris, with Meloni accusing Macron of seeking to score political points ahead of a national election in France.

Meanwhile, this was not the first time a leader’s eye-roll captured the attention of the internet.

In 2017, a candid exchange between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel went viral, where the latter appeared to roll her eyes at Putin.

Putin, with one hand in his pocket and the other emphatically gesturing, appeared to be discussing a topic that Merkel seemed to find less than riveting based on her reaction.

THE G7 SUMMIT

According to Reuters, the draft G7 statement upheld commitments “to universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services for women”, that the leaders made at their summit in Hiroshima in Japan last year.

However, it removed the specific reference in the 2023 communique on the importance of “access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care”.

Italy, which holds the G7’s rotating presidency this year, said there was no need to repeat the language because they had specifically reiterated their Hiroshima pledge.