Blog

The G7 Summit venue in Italy saw a heartwarming moment on Friday when the world leaders joined to wish German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his birthday and even sang ‘Happy Birthday’ in chorus.

A video from the event shows UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeting Scholz. Then, US President Joe Biden also joined them.

When Leyen told Biden that “it’s his [Scholz’s] birthday today,” Biden asked, “Did you sing a birthday song for him?” He then said, “In the Biden family, you’ve got to sing Happy Birthday on the birthday.”

Subsequently, the leaders started singing Happy Birthday to Scholz, who thanked them for their gesture.

Olaf Scholz has been serving as the Chancellor of Germany since December 2021. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Prior to becoming Chancellor, Scholz held several key political positions, including Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance in the coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021.

Hosted by Italy, the three-day G7 summit is underway in Apulia. Along with Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Justin Trudeau, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and European Council President Charles Michel are also participating in the summit.

Leaders of 10 other outreach nations, including India, are also taking part in the summit.