There is a need to “strengthen – and not demolish – the architecture relating to disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, in a historical phase in which, instead, we are witnessing unacceptable allusions to the use of weapons of mass destruction”. The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, said this while speaking at the United Nations in Vienna.
The United Nations «has been the protagonist of decisive progress, from decolonization to support for the social and economic development of billions of people, from interventions to maintain peace to the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Today – Mattalla began – the UN continues to be the fundamental reference framework for addressing challenges that go beyond national borders: the promotion of a shared agenda for the preservation of our planet, the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, the protection of global health, just to name a few”.
«I would like to draw attention to the importance that Italy attributes to three anniversaries that occur in 2025: 80 years since the foundation of the United Nations; 70 years since Italy’s accession to the UN; 25 years since the signing of the UN Convention against transnational organized crime, the so-called Palermo Convention, which is part of my memories for having been present there. Clear illustration, where needed, of the high value represented by multilateral diplomacy and the patient and orderly construction of international institutions called to promote the progress of humanity.”
«The recent reform launched by Secretary General Guterres was launched to respond to this request for greater effectiveness. This is a step in the right direction which, however, calls for a broader reflection on the decision-making mechanisms of the UN themselves, starting with the Security Council, whose composition – and whose powers held by the permanent members – reflect the world of 1945″.
«The geo-political picture we face, from the continuing war of Russian aggression in Ukraine, to the crisis in the Middle East, to the instability in various areas of the African continent, often associated with dramatic humanitarian crises, clearly requires active support for the United Nations, certainly not its dismantling» continued the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, speaking at the United Nations in Vienna. “I am thinking, for example, of the need to strengthen – and not demolish – the architecture relating to disarmament and – added the head of state – to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, in a historical phase in which, instead, we are witnessing unacceptable allusions to the use of weapons of mass destruction”.
«There are no alternatives to multilateralism, unless we decide to take the path of permanent conflicts, with a return to a primitive vision of relations between peoples, the outcomes of which are historically and dramatically well known».
«The UN can fulfill its mandate as guarantor of international peace only if its member states allow it to do so. And yet, the United Nations remains, despite these limitations, an extraordinary, irreplaceable instrument of peace and stability, which it would be irresponsible to weaken.”
«Today, here in Vienna, we solemnly renew our commitment against organized crime. It is a common moral responsibility that belongs to and must unite the international community as a whole.”
«With regard to Italian membership of the United Nations, I would like to remember how at the same time as the UN was born, Italy began the process of adopting a new fundamental law, the Republican Constitution of 1948, founded on values that coincide with those of the San Francisco Charter and the Declaration of Human Rights» said the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, speaking at the United Nations in Vienna. “In that text, the Italian founding fathers, with great foresight, expressly indicated – added the head of state – the path for Italian participation in international organisations. On this basis, of full adherence to a system of values, the Italian Republic was able to access the United Nations in 1955, the same year as the Republic of Austria. Since then Italy, with conviction, has become the protagonist of campaigns for the promotion of universal values, hosting important UN structures on its territory”.
«Remain imprinted in the collective memory, among others, are the bloody attacks of 1992 which cost the lives of Giovanni Falcone, Francesca Morvillo and Paolo Borsellino and, together with them, the valiant and courageous agents of their escorts» concluded the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, speaking at the United Nations in Vienna. “Falcone and Borsellino – whom I had the privilege of knowing and often associating with – had inflicted highly effective and successful blows on the mafia – recalled the president, revealing their financial paths, connections and social weakness. It was the beginning of a season characterized by new investigative techniques: the method of seizure and use for social purposes of the enormous resources of organized crime is an example. Those attacks were the final act of an arrogant mafia, which believed itself capable of challenge the State and was, instead, defeated”.