“The 2030 Agenda of the United Nations, with its Sustainable Development Goals, has the merit of having provided a concrete horizon for their realisation,” he said.
“[It indicates] a path that all Member States are committed to pursuing in the interest of the peoples, which passes first and foremost through the preservation of the planet, the place they inhabit.
“Having reached the second half of the timetable for the implementation of the Agenda, a decisive acceleration towards the achievement of our common goals seems unavoidable, as reaffirmed last September during the last UN Summit on the subject.”
The Italian president also said that conflicts devour resources and stressed the need to build peace; that there should be no more 19th century visions and power drives; and that freedom of the press is essential to maintain democracy.
“Peace and development have crossed destinies,” said Mattarella.
“There cannot be one without the other.
“We live in an era with the greatest number of conflicts since the end of World War II, which devour enormous resources in the arms race, taking them away from development.
“The call to build the necessary conditions for peace and to end conflicts could not be more necessary and urgent,” he said.
“It is on the basis of this approach that Italy deploys its action, with firm determination to support the instruments of dialogue based on that principle of multilateralism that we see today so dramatically called into question by Russian aggression against Ukraine and by the consequences of the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We cannot continue to linger on relations between countries based on 19th century visions and legacies, on power drives.
“We face today a further danger that undermines the relationship of trust with institutions and between countries, that of disinformation,” he continued.
“Last Friday was World Press Freedom Day, which every year warns of the value of freedom of information for the maintenance of democracy.”
ANSA
