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The heads of state and government show unusual unity at the virtual summit. They stress that they want to cooperate in the distribution of vaccines and that developing countries should also benefit. The president of the United States, Trump, is apparently oblivious to solidarity.
US President Donald J. Trump delivers a speech at the end of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019.
Photo: Kimimasa Mayama (Keystone)
It’s almost like real life. When the decrepit-looking King Salman of Saudi Arabia delivers hesitant words of welcome at the start of the virtual G-20 summit, the connection from Moscow shows only an empty white chair. Russian President Vladimir Putin, known for being a notorious newcomer, remains true to himself even in the days of the crown.
Which also applies to Donald Trump. For a long time it was unclear whether the president-elect of the United States would even give a farewell performance at the G-20 summit. Before a trip to the golf course, you can organize your participation at the beginning of the video conference. The other heads of state and government experience it as they know it: out of focus. During the session, Trump tweets about his favorite topic, alleged election fraud.
Trump treats other contestants with self-praise
Saudi Arabia had presented itself differently at this year’s gathering of the largest and most powerful national economies and wanted to present itself to the world in Riyadh as a power-conscious but also responsible international actor. The pandemic thwarted that, but it also made the summit, which had moved to the digital world, urgent. “The Covid 19 pandemic was an unprecedented shock that affected the whole world in a very short time and caused economic and social losses,” says the 84-year-old king in his opening remarks. They will do their best to “overcome the crisis through international cooperation.” That should be the message of this video summit.
He’s openly frustrated by just one person, Trump. Unsurprisingly, the current president refuses to commit to being in solidarity in the fight against the pandemic and also to supply vaccines to the poorest countries. Instead, he praised the other participants and announced that any American who requested it would be vaccinated. Trump notes that American companies Moderna and Pfizer developed vaccines and, in the process, deliberately ignore Pfizer’s German partner, Biontech. On another topic at the summit, climate change, he again affirmed that the Paris Agreement was “very unfair and unilateral”.
This is a “difference of opinion that is not new,” says Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) later. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) noted that one participant used the summit to “portray his own greatness.” In any case, the other participants try to break with that selfishness in the virtual stage of the summit. Russian President Putin offers the Sputnik V vaccine developed in his country and emphasizes that researchers are in the process of developing a second and third corona vaccine. China is keeping its promise to make the vaccines available to developing countries, President Xi Jinping said.
South Africa insists on debt relief
“If we stick together around the world, we can control and overcome the virus and its consequences,” announces Merkel. To contain the pandemic, access to the vaccine must be “possible and affordable” for all countries. The nearly five billion dollars (4.2 billion euros) that have been made available for this purpose in an international program to date, more than a tenth of that of Germany, were not enough.
In addition to providing more money, the World Health Organization (WHO) must also be strengthened, demands Merkel. This also includes Trump, who ordered the United States to leave the WHO, a decision that his designated successor, Joe Biden, intends to reverse immediately upon taking office. French President Emmanuel Macron also stressed the importance of the WHO. This should develop a “fair mechanism” to distribute the vaccine. The pandemic requires a “global, coordinated and united response”.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa makes an urgent appeal to close the gap in funding for the global vaccination program, which he estimates at $ 4.5 billion. Access to the vaccine must be “universal, fair and affordable”. That could “save lives immediately” and “show a way out of this global crisis.” Above all, however, Ramaphosa insists on a central concern of Africans, the fullest possible debt relief.
Currently $ 6 billion deferred
In the summit declaration, the G-20 refers to a debt moratorium for the poorest countries that will apply until June 2021. Finance ministers and central bank governors should now check whether a extension. Scholz calls the moratorium a “big and important” measure. There is currently $ 6 billion on hold that could be invested in fighting the aftermath of the pandemic. In principle, the G-20 countries commit to “using all available political tools for as long as necessary to secure life, employment and income” for people around the world. The communiqué breathes “the spirit of multilateral cooperation”, praises Merkel.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte sees it in a similar light, who urged more cooperation at the video summit “in order to react to future crises.” His country will assume the presidency of the G20 next year. Together with the EU Commission, you want to host a global health summit, preferably in the real world.
