News You May Have Missed This Week
The Gryphon shines a spotlight on the stories that may have flown under your radar.
Macron’s visit to Argentina
After Donald Trump won the US presidential election at the beginning of the month, Argentinean President Javier Milei became the first global leader to meet with him. Two populist figures, this was broadly seen as an indication of the friendship between the pair and of strengthening relations between Argentina and the upcoming Trump administration.
French President Emmanuel Macron subsequently met with Milei prior to attending the G20 summit in Brazil. A self-professed ‘anarcho-capitalist,’ officials from the Elysées Palace stated the central goal was to encourage the Argentinean leader to reconcile himself with the priorities of the rest of the G20.
The discussion appears to have centred around the long-awaited EU-Mercosur trade agreement which has been twenty years in the making and is soon to come into effect.
President Macron has cited concerns around its potential to flood the European market with cheap, poor quality meat from South America and the impact this may have on the agricultural industry in France where farmers have been protesting. He states that the deal will be damaging to the process of reindustrialisation in Argentina also and has since claimed that Milei remains similarly dissatisfied with it.
Alongside the UK and the outgoing Biden administration, President Macron is anticipated to soon give the green light for the Ukrainian government to utilise long-range missiles inside Russian territory.
Attack on the Brazilian Supreme Court
Days before the commencement of the G20 summit in Brazil, explosions rocked the square outside of the country’s Federal Supreme Court. The Praça dos Três Poderes had previously been the site of an attempted coup back in January 2023 when the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro lost the election to incumbent President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro’s supporters claimed that electoral interference had taken place and that the results were therefore illegitimate.
In the most recent attack, Francisco Wanderley Luiz detonated two explosives in the square, the second of which claimed his life. Luiz had previously stood unsuccessfully to represent Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party as a councillor but secured just 98 votes. President Lula had recently been in the area.
Georgian Dream: anti-Russian protests take place in Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a widely contested region generally regarded as Georgian territory. Russia formally recognised the area as an independent state after the Georgian-Russian war of 2008, but Georgia maintains the area is occupied by Moscow. Protests were sparked earlier this month by the passing of legislation permitting Russian investment and land ownership locally.
The region’s governing party ‘Georgian-Dream’ has faced accusations of increasing authoritarianism and pro-Russian sentiment, passing legislation which seeks to restrict the freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
Recent election results which allow the party to remain in power have also been contested and the head of Georgia’s Electoral Commision was dowsed in black paint after confirming the results, which were widely seen as a referendum on EU membership. Senior officials from both the EU and the US have agreed that accusations of electoral interference should be investigated.
Abkhazia’s regional leader, Alsan Bzhania, has agreed to step down if protests do not cease, citing the need to ‘maintain stability and constitutional order.’ As of the time of writing, demonstrations continue and police are clearing those involved from the capitol of Tbilsi.
Words By: Elliot Johnston-Coates
