The dangers facing the world today
have different names from the ones it faced 80 years ago but
they are no less fearsome, President Sergio Mattarella said on
Friday.
"The 'world war fought piecemeal' leads to a world in pieces,"
Mattarella told the diplomatic corps accredited to Italy.
"Walls are being erected, freedom of navigation and of arrival
are under attack," he continued.
In order to avoid conflicts of wider proportions, Mattarella
said it is necessary to "seek a common factor from which to
resume the threads of a dialogue leading to a fruitful
structural reform of multilateralism".
"Today's dangers have different names from those of 80 years
ago, but they are no less fearsome, and they should prompt us to
act, immediately, together," he added.
"An international community that fails to protect its children,
that is unable to bring humanitarian aid even to children,
appears inhumane," continued Mattarella.
"We are alarmed by the damage inflicted on our planet by viruses
or natural disasters, but we must note that the greatest danger
comes from the wretched behaviour of some governments,
paramilitary forces, and terrorist groups.
"It is impossible not to recognise the clairvoyance of Pope
Francis, who already ten years ago spoke for the first time
about a 'world war fought piecemeal'.
"That warning, now more relevant than ever, must not be ignored
and demands a more conscious reading of reality. These fragments
of war, in fact, risk creating false perspectives, deceiving our
capacity for analysis and understanding," he said.
"From the United Nations to the World Trade Organisation, from
the World Health Organisation to the nuclear arms control
regime, these and other institutions need updating and
strengthening," continued Mattarella.
"We all pay a price for their shortcomings," he said.
The same applies to the European Union, continued the head of
state.
"In addition to enlarging the number of its members, the
European Union will have to get to grips with the set of
institutional reforms needed to make it capable of tackling the
challenges of our time effectively and promptly, offering the
example of a community that, through dialogue and negotiation,
contributes even more to the cause of international peace and
cooperation," he said.
On the recent UN Conference on Climate Change in Dubai,
Mattarella hailed the "broad consensus" reached by the
international community to phase out the use of fossil fuels.
"We are now called upon to rapidly and concretely implement what
has been decided, in the knowledge that the accumulated delay is
already great and that the cost of new hesitations would fall,
multiplied, on future generations," he said.
"There is a full awareness that while pursuing long-term goals,
we must support the countries most affected by climate change.
"Italy will participate with 100 million euro in the new global
fund for loss and damage, aimed at helping vulnerable countries
to overcome the destruction caused by climate change," said
Mattarella.
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