(Adnkronos) – The United Nations must be strengthened so wars that flout international law such as Russia’s four-year-old invasion of Ukraine can be prevented, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani stated on Friday in an interview on the seven-day-old United States-Israel-Iran conflict.
“The United Nations has not done much, just as it has not done much to avert the war between (UN Permanent Security Council member) Russia and Ukraine,” Tajani told Sky Tg24.
Before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 22 February 2022, Italy had proposed former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy’s late premier Silvio Berlusconi as UN special envoys, Tajani noted.
“I am a supporter of the UN: we must strengthen the world body, not abolish it. This will allow the UN to play a more meaningful and decisive role in preventing wars and better enforcing international law,” Tajani said.
Italy’s main UN reform proposals focus on making the Security Council more democratic and representative, adding 9 to 11 more non-permanent members. Italy advocates for the eventual suppression of the veto power and proposes immediate limitations on it in cases of mass atrocities, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It has criticised UNSC permanent members for paralysing the UN’s ability to maintain peace by their use of ‘cross-vetoes’.
