Speech by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, at the celebration of the Diplomatic Corps’ holiday wishes

Courtesy translation

Most Excellent Dean,

Mister Minister,

Your Excellencies the Ambassadors,

Before all else, allow me to apologize for the unusual nature of this meeting but it was the only way to celebrate it and I did not want to forgo this traditional yearly appointment to which I have always attributed utmost importance.

I thank the Most Excellent Dean for the holiday wishes that he addressed to Italy and to me personally on behalf of the Diplomatic Corps. In turn, I would like to reciprocate with my sincerest greetings for the upcoming festivities to all of you, your families, and the citizens of the Countries that you represent here in Rome.

A year ago, on this very same occasion, we exchanged wishes for a better future after the suffering caused by the pandemic across all the Continents.

Never would we have imagined that, only a few months later, we would witness the dreadful disaster caused by the war of aggression that Russia waged against Ukraine. An aggression that has plunged Europe back in a nightmare that we were sure would remain in the darkest pages of our history. Never would we have imagined that the nightmare would come back to haunt us again.

And never would we have imagined that a Country like Russia, so close to usculturally and historically, could actually attack Ukraine’s civil infrastructure with the cruel aim of depriving the population of light, water, and heating throughout their long and harsh winter.

A year ago, with the pandemic, we told each other that nobody could feel safe unileverybody, everywhere in the world, was protected against the disease. Today, we must unfortunately acknowledge that the same axiom also applies to what is happening in Ukraine. In an evermore interconnected world, the hardships inflicted by war are not only impacting Ukraine. In every corner of the world, the citizens of Countries very diverse and far apart, suffer the repercussions of Russia’s brutal attack. Food insecurity, the difficulties in assuring energy supplies, and the exponential hike in prices indiscriminately affect all continents and every place where the weakest population segments are the first to pay the price for that evil act.

Thus, along with the rights of the Ukrainian people, also the fundamental rights of millions of people around the world are being violated: the founding rights on which our democracies are grounded.

Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, said: “to take care of a beautiful plant we must water it every day, be careful of how much light it receives. We cannot limit ourselves to pouring a large amount of water on it and then ignore it for a year. In these conditions, the plant dies. And the same happens withdemocracy: if it is not watched over by the people, it dies.” These are words to be shared.

Today the international community, we all, must look after our democracy, andvigorously defend its values ​​and ideals that represent the indispensable condition for everyone to be able to enjoy fundamental human rights.

How can we look after our democracies? How can we work for an equitable peace?

The international community has the tools to carry out this task, and it is necessary that Governments place their trust in those organizations, starting with the United Nations, which were established precisely to meet the need to protect peace and democracy.

We need a global system of governance and to urgently relaunch effective multilateralism, capable of contributing to develop a world order centered on the United Nations, bearing peace and justice, and based on representative, democratic, transparent, accountable, and efficient institutions.

In a phase that strongly curtails human rights and democratic values, strengthening them must form an integral part of the renewed effort to relaunch them. We must not allow that worries over contingent crises distract us from reforming the multilateral system and its institutions; we must not forgo our effort to strengthen an international order capable of standing up to scrutiny in assuring legal certainty, respect for human rights, and a peaceful settlement of conflicts.

We must have the foresight and determination to design instruments in which all States can identify and confide.

Through these instruments we must act to create the conditions for our youths to regain confidence in looking at the future in which they will be key players.

Unfortunately however, we are recently witnessing repeated, brutal attempts to stifle the voice of youths who peacefully demonstrate to ask for greater freedom and spaces for participation. This behaviour is to be firmly condemned. A State that rejects and murders its own children stands self-condemned.

At the same time, we must act to immediately mitigate the consequences produced by the war.

I am thinking of the sudden suspension in food exports and of the consequent rise in prices that have exacerbated an unprecedented food crisis. Italy is dedicating efforts and resources to mitigate this supply crisis by developing innovative and sustainable solutions capable of producing wealth for local populations. We work with our partners and with the FAO, IFAD, and the WFP, which jointly comprise the UN food and agriculture Agencies that we are proud to host in Italy.

Equally catastrophic is the energy crisis with its immediate and long-term consequences.

As we rethink our supply options, we must not forget the commitments made towardsa clean transition, also on behalf of future generations: an enduring and sustainable solution and an indispensable means of combating global warming.

Renewable energies mean security and autonomy as well as economic convenience, value creation and employment.

Equally worrying is the risk of our economies becoming self-enclosed as a possible reaction to the moment of crisis. In Europe, as everywhere else, we must not give in to the lure of protectionism, and to the presumption of self-sufficiency. Interdependence – history teaches us – is a precious factor of peace and stability, as well as of well-being.

Lastly, I am thinking of the migration flows, which are strongly intensifying as a direct consequence of food insecurity and of the instability produced by the war.

It is a phenomenon with complex characteristics, which however must not make us forget that the international community’s first indispensable objective must be that of protecting the rights of migrants.

If we only remembered that underlying the numbers that are coldly listed in the statistics on migrants there are children, women, and families, it would be easier to let ourselves to be guided primarily by a principle of reality and solidarity in identifying solutions capable of collectively regulating this phenomenon.

For Italy, all these challenges are to be tackled firstly with our transatlantic partners and within the European Union, which was established as a union of democracies that, after reconquering their freedom, committed to mutually protect their independence and to join forces in promoting a speedy reconstruction for the common good.  

A month ago, I was in Maastricht to celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of the most crucial phases in the construction of Europe: the signing of the namesake Treaty that established the European citizenship.

It offered the opportunity to meet with young students from all over Europe. In their questions, I perceived their evident concern for the future but also their confidence in a Union that must now find the strength to renew itself, without forgoing its founding principles.

The European Union must remain in step with the times. The great changes and challenges of these last few years oblige us all to shoulder our responsibilities.

This is the message that emerged last May from the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The proposals of the Conference – which was the fruit of the interaction between European institutions and the representatives of citizens – indicate a clear roadmap of reforms.

However, in reforming itself, the Union must not run the risk of looking only within its borders, but must also continue to keep alive its vocation for dialogue and solidarity, and for cooperating with other Countries: the European Union can and must stand as a reliable partner and as a responsible global security provider.

Prosperity, stability, and security are not only values to enforce but strategic interests to defend.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has further highlighted the geopolitical continuity and the strategic relevance of Italy’s relations with Europe, with the Enlarged Mediterranean and with the whole African Continent, which is being particularly impacted by the serious effects of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

The 8th edition of the Rome Med Dialogues international conference that closed only a few days ago confirmed Italy’s tangible attention for a region – that of the Enlarged Mediterranean – to which we are bound by a common history, geographical location, challenges, and opportunities.

The factors of interdependence that run along this geopolitical axis to the point of including the entire African Continent, unite us in a common destiny and call us to build a common future together.

A future that now requires us to resourcefully work together for peace and stability and to promote sustainable and resilient growth.

We have seen that when the international community is driven by a community of intents, the results become feasible; we have seen an example of this with the positive launch of the pacification process in the Horn of Africa thanks to the mediation of the African Union.

We must continue to seek constructive solutions also to mitigate the violence suffered by the civilian population in the African Great Lakes region.

The same consideration should be made about the Balkans, a region strongly hit by the consequences of the war in Ukraine. With this region, we share the same challenges, spanning from the energy to the migration crisis. Italy has always supported the European enlargement process within the EU.

Today it is all the more essential to offer tangible answers to these Countries which have long considered the European option as the best possible solution for their future.

The recent EU-Balkans Summit has represented an important step in the right direction. Now we need to further accelerate the process.

In the same spirit and with the same intent, Italy continues to encourage the European Union to establish evermore structured and fruitful ties with the regional organizations of all continents. Accordingly, we should celebrate the recent summitbetween the EU and ASEAN, a key organization for the stability of Asia, as well asthe dialogue opened for a similar summit with Latin America and the ongoing negotiations for an agreement to strengthen ties between the European Union and numerous Countries in both continents.

Most Excellent Dean, Authorities, and Your Excellencies the Ambassadors,

the latest challenges cannot and must not allow us to forget the numerous dramaticsituations of crisis across the world.

According to the latest data made available by UNICEF, today more children are in need of humanitarian assistance than at any other time in recent history.

We are witnessing an unprecedented overlapping of risk factors that represents a further hazard for children: conflicts, food insecurity which increases malnutrition rates, famines caused by climate change, new outbreaks of epidemics, including cholera and the measles.  

More than 400 million children live in areas of crisis, of which 36 million are displaced, and half of the world’s children live in conditions of vulnerability.

Italy, through its development cooperation service, does not forget these dramatic emergencies. The attention focused on new crisis scenarios is not to the detriment of our actions in other contexts, where we continue to act to provide emergency relief to the most vulnerable people and to facilitate enduring common development dynamics. If it is true that with war there can be no development, it is equally true that without development there can be no peace and stability.

Most Excellent Dean, Authorities, and Your Excellencies the Ambassadors,

My wish for the future is to re-establish an equitable peace because it is only through peace that humanity will be able to look to its progress. This is the goal that we should all unite to achieve, and the diplomacies of all Countries are called upon to join in this common commitment.

Italy is grateful for your friendship, on which it is sure it will be able to continue counting in the future.

I thus renew to you, your families, and your people, my very best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.