President Sergio Mattarella said on
Friday that global crises have increased over the past year,
with a reported 56 ongoing conflicts amid a generalized
deterioration of security conditions, receiving the diplomatic
corps accredited to Italy at the Quirinale palace.
"Despite hopes for more cooperation and solidarity", Mattarella
said the year coming to an end has recorded an increasing number
of crises on a global scale.
"Recent reports have registered as many as 56 ongoing conflicts
- the highest number since World War Two - in a generalized
context of deterioration of security conditions", said the
president.
Mattarella went on to say that "Italy's support for Kyiv, firm
and determined, has the objective of a just peace, based on the
principles and values of the Charter of the United Nations - an
objective in the background of Italy's commitment to host in
Rome, during the month of July next year, the third edition of
the International Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine".
Mattarella went on to note that the ongoing crises cannot
distract the attention from climate change, calling for an
"indispensable acceleration towards a global energy transition",
in a speech delivered during the annual meeting with the
diplomatic corps ahead of the holidays.
Speaking about protectionism, the president said "international
cooperation finds in economic relations one of its strengths.
Claiming to be self-sufficient "goes against the reality of
facts", he added, noting that, "here too, there is a wish to
cancel the world's evolution over the past three centuries,
invoking themes like national security to justify new forms of
protectionism".
"History taught us that protectionism never brought long-term
advantages, sometimes even causing armed conflicts, while free
trade - it is the experience developed by the European Union -
is a factor of formidable growth".
The president went on to say that international dialogue between
different groups of countries with their interests were
"vehicles of peace", "even more so when they know how to merge
the future of entire continents - as is the case of the recent
agreement between the European Union and Mercusor - vying to
safeguard a "common heritage" like biodiversity, food security,
the overall state of health of our planet".
On artificial intelligence, Mattarella called for an "inclusive
development from which all populations can benefit".
"Discoveries and developments in this sector cannot be a private
monopoly", he noted.
Speaking about Europe, Mattarella said it "has to be first of
all a project of peace".
"The search for peace has characterized its genesis and
development.
"The European Union does not represent a threat for anybody", he
also said, stressing however the need to "strengthen a common
strategic culture".
"In this regard, I would like to highlight that a real European
defence cannot be postponed anymore.
"We have the example of NATO, the defensive alliance called to
guarantee the security of allied populations, averting the
spectre of war".
"Italy will not cease to offer its contribution for peace and
stability in Europe and in the world and the Italian presidency
of the G7, in this 2024, had as a key objective the defence of
the international system based on rules".
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