PRESS RELEASE

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Tremonti's New Bretton Woods Proposal Will Be On G8 Agenda, Says Frattini

Sept. 22, 2008 (EIRNS)—In response to a question from EIR, who asked if Tremonti's New Bretton Woods proposal would be on the agenda, as Italy takes the chair of the G8 this year, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini replied, "Tremonti intends to propose a new item for the G8 finance ministers which is to build a new Bretton Woods arrangement." He has also made it into a "pre-discussion item" with the European countries and with the U.S. "Tremonti works that way," Frattini said. "He already made proposals in the European group, and they are still discussing this issue. And it will be on the agenda for the G8."

During his comments today at the Brookings Institution, he indicated that Italy was also eager to create a "broad community of responsible powers" to deal with some of the new problems facing the world and as a prelude to "reforming the international institutions." He underlined the need for maintaining a dialogue with Russia, which he clearly saw as a member of this "broad community." "We need a policy of closer relations with the Eastern European countries," he said, "but one in which they also maintain their good relations with Russia." He added that Italy would invite the head of the Arab League to attend the G8 leaders meeting as it was important to engage the Muslim world in some of these top-level discussions.