Excellencies & Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Italy aligns itself to the statement to be made by the representative of the European Union, and I would like to add a few remarks in my national capacity.
Mr. Chair,
Threats and challenges to international peace and security require a coherent, coordinated approach from the international community. This is why the UN is consolidating partnerships with Member States and regional and sub-regional organizations.
Many regional and sub-regional organizations have long histories of cooperation with the UN in conflict prevention and mediation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Cooperation between the UN and EU in conflict prevention and management has become a major component of global security governance today. EU-UN partnership is today heavily “operations-driven.” A recent, pragmatic example: the Mission in the Central African Republic, EUFOR CAR that is preparing the ground for a UN mission that will take over in September. But there are many other important examples of close EU-UN cooperation in crisis management. To name a few: UNSMIL in Libya and the EUBAM Libya CSDP Mission; the UNMIK and EULEX CSDP Missions in Kosovo; the UNSOM and EU Training Missions in Somalia, under the command of Italy, which also provides its main contingent; and the EUTM Mali, EUCAP Sahel and UN MINUSMA Missions.
The principles underpinning our action are those of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), whose purpose is to increase the capacity of both the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities in planning and conducting Peace Support Operations. We should aim at building on their best practices and creating synergies among these groups.
To this end, Italy has consistently provided financial support to implement a project, which has different modules in different Countries, to promote knowledge and skills for rendering operative the civilian component of the African Stand-by Force.
In the Horn of Africa, many of our interventions in the field of peace and security have been conducted in cooperation with the AU, whose role we praise. We have also provided political and financial support to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the regional organization for the Horn of Africa. We have backed IGAD’s endeavors for peace in South Sudan and Somalia, always encouraging close cooperation with the UN and the AU. Particularly meaningful is the project we developed with IGAD’s Somalia Office for the resolution of outstanding issues between the Somali Federal Government and the Juba Administration. This initiative and others have addressed center-periphery relations, which, we believe, remains one of the key issues of the Somali stabilization process. Our support has always been transparent and in keeping with the New Deal Compact for Somalia and with the UN’s line of action.
Mr. Chair,
Italy is the top contributor of Blue Helmets among WEOG States and the seventh top contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget. It is in this same spirit that Italy also strongly supports EU/UN cooperation. Under Italy’s Presidency of the EU Council in 2003, renewed EU-UN cooperation in crisis management began through the adoption of the “Joint Declaration on EU-UN Cooperation in Crisis Management.” Many significant achievements have followed since then.
The current Italian Presidency of the EU Council would like to take stock of the best practices and lessons learned in EU-UN cooperation and further build on this partnership. This is why we are pleased to host, on this topic, with Germany – and with the help of some well-known think-tanks – two high-level regional seminars, whose programs were presented during the 17 July event in New York, in the presence of Under-Secretary-General Ladsous. The seminars will take place this coming fall and will be in Rome and Berlin, followed by a final conference in Brussels.
Mr. Chair, Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,
In a 2010 statement to the Security Council, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Lady Ashton, said: “The reasons behind the creation of the UN are similar to those that originally drove European integration: to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Today, the UN and the EU need to promote the ideals that inspired earlier generations in a new world”.
As a founding member of the EU, Italy firmly believes in the vision of the United States of Europe, and in unique European foreign and defense policies. Italy has always embraced the vision and the values of the United Nations Charter. The UN and the EU are two sides of the same coin, two paths leading to the same goal: a peaceful world. For the achievement of this goal we need more Europe in UN Peacekeeping, and my country is proud to be on the frontline in this commitment.
I thank you, Mr. Chair.
