The 55th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, has long been seen as a major globalist event, but this year the leaders of the world's most powerful countries are absent from the meeting.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to address the forum via video link on Thursday, but Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, Indian President Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Kea Meloni will also be speaking at the forum on Thursday. Prime Minister Starmer and others were absent. The only G7 leader to attend in person was German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“Sure, the Prime Minister of Spain is going to be there, and there are a few others, but the general impression of the heads of state and government that will be there is that it's not a big deal. Look at the G20 list. If you look at it, you'll be in the minority,” said Jan Aalt Scholte, professor of world change at Leiden University. observed on CNBC last Thursday.
One of the G20 leaders who made the visit was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. It was delivered Tuesday address. South Africa currently holds the rotating G20 Presidency. Brazil's president last year did not send a head of state to Davos this year.
Today's liberal, Javier Millay of Argentina, did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose defense against Russian aggression is largely funded by the G20, similarly made a pilgrimage to Davos.
Millay's speech Last year's WEF appearance was a blistering 25 minutes. indictment The socialist argument was not welcomed by many attendees. His opening line was: “I'm here today because the Western world is in danger. And the Western world is in danger because the people who are supposed to defend Western values… Because it is co-opted by the vision of the Western world, which leads inexorably to socialism and thereby to poverty. ”
Millais then said, “The state is not the solution, the state is the problem,'' which irritated everyone in the audience who had not yet been enraged by his anti-socialist comments.
Millay Return We head to Davos this week with a year of undeniable financial results.
Trump is expected to give a speech that is ideologically aligned with Milley. Neither of them will ever be part of the WEF “crowd,” but that crowd is no longer just a force to ridicule them. According to Business Insider, Trump was number one. conversation topics Among the WEF participants on the first day.
“I don't think the proponents of a liberal and open world economy speak with as much contempt for opposing forces and views as they might have done, for example, before the global financial crisis,” Scholte said. said. CNBC.
The WEF issued a statement confirming that many big names are either absent from this year's tournament or are sending lesser-ranked representatives.
“We recognize that world leaders have a wide range of duties and responsibilities, and their absence will not detract from our continued engagement with their respective governments and institutions throughout the year.” said the forum.
