NEW YORK – “You can count on Italy’s support in the performance of your responsibilities for the benefit of the international community. “ This was the incipit of Italian Premier Enrico Letta’s speech addressed to the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York after his official visit to Canada and before the one to the USA.
On October 16, President Barack Obama will welcome Enrico Letta to the White House on an official meeting to reaffirm the strong and long standing relationship between the two countries, one of the closest in Europe.
President Obama and Prime Minister Letta will discuss the need to boost economic growth and create new job opportunities, the support to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the cooperation within NATO, the common challenges to face in North Africa and the Middle East, and other issues of mutual interest.
Letta at the “Opening bell” at New York Stock Exchange
Letta at the “Opening bell” at New York Stock Exchange
During his speech to the Assembly, Enrico Letta underlined that dealing with important matters such as unemployment, immigration, stability, security, quality of life, peace and respect for human rights represents an essential condition to achieve sustainable development, which was the main theme of this 68th Session.
“With an end to the global crisis finally within reach – he said – it is imperative to make growth and development our first priority”. He also announced that “Italy is making a specific contribution to the issue of Food Security through Expo 2015 in Milan. The theme is Feeding the planet: Energy for life.
More than 130 countries have so far agreed to participate. Italy will use Expo Milan as an opportunity to exchange best practices on global sustainability in the area of food security and nutrition. We intend to promote new partnerships between the private and public sectors. […] But an integrated approach to development also involves a focus on its social dimensions.”
Premier Letta was referring to global unemployment, particularly affecting young generations worldwide, including Europe and Italy: “We have to combine measures taken at the national and European levels to launch our ‘war’ against unemployment.”
Another crucial issue is represented by immigration policies, as Italy’s geographic location makes it a port of entry for thousands of immigrants. “Recognizing that more needs to be done, we should all fight what the Pope called the globalization of indifference and feel their suffering as our own”.
Therefore, Italy has intensified humanitarian assistance and showed its commitment to peace and stability through the participation in 10 different UN Peacekeeping Missions worldwide.
As far as Syria is concerned, Enrico Letta said: “Since the outbreak of the conflict, the Italian Government has underlined the importance of preserving the role of the Un as the ultimate guardian of peace. At the same time, we strongly condemn what has taken place in Syria. We cannot be indifferent before blatant violations of fundamental international norms.”
In conclusion, he reminded that Italy will assume the presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2014: “We want the EU to be more open to the world. This means more European foreign or rather global policy. It also means more trade exchanges with the rest of the world”, he said.
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