G7 excludes global south by imposing sanctions: German parliament member

The Group of Seven (G7) have excluded the entire global south with economic sanctions and economic power and they want to dictate their policies to the world, Sevim Dagdelen, a member of Germany's lower house of Parliament has said.

The G7 framework should be abolished, said the Bundestag member, although Germany is holding the G7 presidency.

Dagdelen is also chairwoman of the parliamentary group of Germany's Left party, Die Linke, in the Foreign Affairs Committee of Bundestag. She made the remarks as the G7 summit was held in Schloss Elmau, a castle in Bavaria, southern Germany.

However, to solve the global challenges of hunger, the climate crisis and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, cooperation is needed, she stressed.

Calling the G7 an "elite club," Dagdelen said the sanctions against Russia were not supported by most countries and thus the G7 members were isolated from the rest of the world.

Instead of recognizing their own failure in terms of the sanction policy, the G7 countries remained on the wrong track by attempting to impose new sanctions, she said, referring to the latest comments from western leaders that G7 countries would adopt an embargo on imports of gold from Russia.

In addition, the sanctions against Russia are worsening the global food crisis, considering that Russia is a major exporter of grain, she said.

"The G7 is not everything, and the world is beyond the G7," she said.