The Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Vincenzo Amendola, today is in New York to attend the debate opened within the Security Council, and chaired by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Klimkin, on the protection of critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks. The representative of the Italian Government voted in favour of the UN resolution on this issue. “Our Country maintains that the protection of critical infrastructure is one of the areas on which the interests of Member States, the world of business and civil society must converge and around which we must build a common cooperation platform,” Undersecretary Vincenzo Amendola said in his contribution to the UNSC debate. He went on: “Last year, with the attacks in Brussels and Istanbul, terrorists showed how our way of life can be changed by striking key infrastructure like airports. Another meaningful example of a threat to critical infrastructure is that raised by Daesh against the Mosul Dam in Iraq. In this sense, Italy’s experience in protecting and assuring the security of the Iraqi dam constitutes a model and an example of how to intervene to protect strategic infrastructure. We are ready to support the strengthening of the role of the United Nations in identifying and disseminating best practices in protecting these infrastructures, evaluating the needs of Member States, by acting through specialised agencies, encouraging cooperation and raising awareness on the importance of a coordinated response.” Undersecretary Amendola added: “A key element in the partnership is the exchange of information. We must join forces and, to this end, we favour the active role of the United Nations in this area while fully respecting national sovereignties and prerogatives. The European Union, which is greatly advanced in this approach, can surely offer a valid contribution in this exercise.”
Later today the Italian Undersecretary of State will meet with the Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the Arab Group and hold a bilateral meeting with the Permanent Representative of Iraq, thus bearing witness to the fact that Italy, as affirmed by Foreign Minister Alfano in his first address to the Security Council last 10 January, “brings within the Council its natural capacity to build bridges between the two shores of the Mediterranean”.
