President Biden and G7 leaders are set for a dream experience in an ersatz medieval city on the Italian coast, but some of the police guarding them had a floating nightmare trip.
The approximately 2,000 carabonieri responsible for conference security were crammed onto a cruise ship called Mykonos Magic, renamed Goddess of the Night.
The ship has “unusable bathrooms” due to sewage leaks, “torn mattresses” and multiple signs of flooding, according to the Italian Finance Ministry union, which released a scathing statement about the conditions.
Along with their complaints were photographs of bathrooms filled with brown water, stained carpets, overturned mattresses and moldy bread, all part of a condition on the ship that unions consider indecent.
According to the unions, there is waste and other materials “everywhere.”
The ship is docked in Brindisi, where Biden will land on Wednesday night. The city is close to the luxurious fake medieval resort town where Biden will stay.
that place has welcomed people like Justin Timberlake and Madonna, and features sparkling pools lined with flowers and olive trees and elegant daybeds.
The president will enjoy the tranquil setting along Italy’s prized Puglia coast as he meets with G7 leaders, just days after attending a lavish state dinner where he was welcomed by President Emmanuel Macron and the French first lady. Brigitte Macron.
Leaders of wealthy industrial nations will gather at Borgo Egnazia, the idyllic Adriatic hotel estate that hosted Justin Timberlake for his 2020 wedding to actress Jessica Biel.
Others who have contemplated its whitewashed buildings surrounded by swimming pools have been Madonna and the footballers David and Victoria Beckham.
Police unions complained about conditions aboard the Mykonos Magic, the ship where some 2,000 officers protecting President Biden and G7 attendees are housed.
a developer built the whole city, modeling it in the image of a 15th century town. It features modern pools, rooms costing more than $500 a night, and views of olive groves, coastal scenes, and farmhouse-style interior settings, with suites costing $2,000.
The total cost of the project was $160 million and took years to complete.
The financial situation of the cruiser that was used for police is still changing. The ship has been confiscated; Police said it had been seized by order of prosecutors, and the Interior Ministry reserved the right to take legal action over the lease estimated at $6.5 million, according to a local Italian newspaper. media.
DailyMail.com has contacted the shipping company identified as part of the ship’s lease.
The international press will stay in Bari and be bussed for Biden’s planned press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which only a couple of questions are expected to be asked of each leader as they speak hours after A Delaware jury convicted Hunter Biden on a weapons charge. .
Biden’s two-day visit will also include a trip to Castello Svevo, a medieval Norman-Swabian castle where guests will be greeted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella. Its origins date back to the 9th century.
The bucolic landscape will contrast with some of the grim problems that world leaders must confront, from the war in Gaza that has claimed thousands of lives to Ukraine, where a new injection of American weapons has not yet stopped Russian advances.
The union complained about brown water on board the ship
Photos released by the union showed debris in the ship’s hallways.
In a country that boasts of its world-class cuisine, police complained about moldy bread on board the ship
The Mykonos Magic cruise ship is docked in Brindisi, near where G7 leaders are staying in the Italian region of Apulia.
A police union complained about conditions aboard the ship, as well as limits on overtime and other concerns.
Borgo Egnazia is an entire medieval-style city and cost 160 million dollars to build. It hosted Justin Timberlake’s wedding to Jessica Biel. Host the G7 leaders.
The first G7 dinner will be held at the Castello Federiciano
If the president has any qualms about his security, he need only look to the east, across the Adriatic, where the U.S. Navy and its allies are participating in their multinational BALTOPS exercises, which last several days.
The USS New York, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport ship, and the Mount Whitney, a communications platform and the flagship of the Sixth Fleet, are offshore, a U.S. Navy spokesperson said .to DailyMail.com.
Local Italian media even reported that Biden would spend the night aboard a US navy ship.
But an administration official told DailyMail.com that is not the case.
The Navy confirmed that the Mount Whitney and the USS New York, a landing ship, were participating in the exercises.
(Such an unusual adaptation would raise the delicate question of where to even place a group of White House reporters to follow the president wherever he goes.)
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Biden’s trip to the heel of Italy’s boot comes after an extraordinarily whirlwind week for a president who had his passport stamped many times as vice president and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He flew to France for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, spoke about the supreme sacrifices of the Army Rangers at Point du Hoc, and then attended the lavish state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and French First Lady Brigitte Macron .
Biden to join other leaders of rich, highly industrialized G7 nations
The president travels to Italy after spending five days in France
Fit for a president: Administration officials torpedoed an Italian media report that Biden would sleep aboard one of the naval assets off the coast. The flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and forward-deployed to Gaeta, Italy, USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) is in area waters
All roads lead to Apulia: leaders meet in the Italian region at a time of tense global conflicts
The Prime Minister of Italy and leader of the far-right party Brothers of Italy (Fratelli D’Italia – FDI), Giorgia Melonij, will receive world leaders in her home country.
Biden then flew home to Wilmington and then to the White House for a few days before returning to the mainland.
On Biden’s to-do list: persuade other allies to agree to a plan to give Ukraine a $50 billion loan based on interest on seized Russian assets as it fights to stop Moscow’s territorial gains around the besieged city of Kharkiv.
First lady Jill Biden logged even more miles, flying home to attend her stepson Hunter Biden’s criminal trial in Wilmington on gun charges and then flying back to Paris for the state dinner, with the Democratic National Committee covering part of the costs of the transcontinental diversion.
This year’s summit comes after conservative parties gained influence in European Parliament elections, strengthening Meloni’s position and prompting Macron to call new parliamentary elections in France.
