I T A L Y
Statement on the occasion of the Debate of the General Assembly of the United Nations
8 June 2022
Agenda item 124: Strengthening of the United Nations system
Mr. President,
Italy fully recognizes itself with the statement delivered on behalf of the European Union and would like to add some further remarks in its national capacity.
Today’s plenary meeting is the first implementation of the procedure set by the Resolution 76/262. This new mechanism contributes to strengthening the UN System and effective multilateralism by promptly allowing the General Assembly, in light of the veto cast in the Security Council, to have a debate on a key security issue such as “Nonproliferation/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”.
Italy remains deeply concerned by the continued testing of ICBM, ballistic and other missiles by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), including the recent launches conducted on 5th of June 2022, which are flagrant violations of the DPRK’s obligations under numerous UNSCRs. These activities constitute a threat to both regional and international security and the multilateral nonproliferation architecture that Italy has vowed to uphold.
Italy strongly urges the DPRK to comply in full with all obligations arising from the relevant UNSCRs, to abandon its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and to return at an early date to, and fully comply with, the NPT and IAEA safeguards while ratifying the CTBT.
Italy urges all UN Member States to join us in condemning unequivocally the DPRK´s behavior and in reaffirming its obligation to abandon its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
In this regard, we are highly disappointed that the Security Council failed – because of opposition by two of its permanent members – to react swiftly to the threats posed by DPRK and to act in accordance with its own previous deliberations. Let us once again reiterate that DPRK’s actions demand a united and decisive response by the international community, including further significant measures to be taken by the UNSC.
Thank you, Mr. President.
