New York, 22 febbraio 2022.
The topic of the Reform of the United Nations Security Council – the major body tasked with preserving international peace and security – was at the center of the hearing of the Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN Amb. Maurizio Massari at the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.
At the opening of the proceedings, Ambassador Massari remembered Ambassador Luca Attanasio, Carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci and the driver Mustapha Milambo, on the first anniversary of their tragic death in an ambush near Goma.
Ambassador Massari then provided an update on the meeting held yesterday evening at the United Nations Security Council on the Ukrainian crisis. The remarks of the UN Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs Rosemary Di Carlo and statements of the so-called like-minded countries have all used particularly serious and firm tones in condemning Putin’s decisions, for their open contradiction with the United Nations Charter and the Minsk Agreements, expressing grave concern for the recognition of the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and for the announcement of Russian troops’ deployment in the two territories, thus violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Coming to the reform of the Security Council, “This is a topic – underlined Ambassador Massari – where successive Governments and Parliaments in Italy have showed consistency and continuity of policy, given the bipartisan objectives and national interests at stake”.
“A key role in promoting the unitary commitment of our country was played by Ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci, who unfortunately left us last month and whom we all remember with great esteem and affection”, stressed Amb. Massari referring to the years (starting from 1997) when the foundations of the political-diplomatic action were laid, action that endures today at the UN through the Uniting for Consensus-UfC Group, of which Italy is coordinator.
Recalling the positions of the various groups of countries participating in the Intergovernmental Reform Negotiations at the UN (so-called IGN platform), Ambassador Massari focused on the cornerstones of the negotiating proposal of Italy and the UfC Group, which pushes for the creation of a more efficient, representative, inclusive, transparent and democratic Council than the one established in 1945 by increasing the number of its non-permanent seats, extending the duration of their term, and by limiting the use of the right of veto, with the ultimate goal of abolishing it altogether.
This would increase the opportunities of all UN Member States to have a seat at the Security Council, based on a rotating basis, including those historically most penalized (above all, Africa). More than 50 countries have never served on the Security Council. Such a reform would prevent crucial decisions for international peace from being made or blocked by a few, without granting to every member a chance to, at least, sit on the Council.
While divergences between states persist in the context of the IGN reform negotiations (restarted on 8 February), Ambassador Massari highlighted how it is essential for Italy, which is already among the closest partners of and contributors to the UN, to continue to engage in the negotiations by trying to increase our “clout” and influence within the system.
