129. Mr. President, in offering you my Government's warm congratulations on your unanimous election as President, I am not merely doing what ritual demands; I am expressing the satisfaction I feel at this recognition of the merits of a great friend and a distinguished citizen of a country which shares with my own a common heritage of traditions and ideals. I shall not add to the tributes of previous speakers to your qualities as a diplomat and statesman, in which I am sure all concur.
130. As the representative of Italy, I should like to mention the important part you played at a difficult time for us, when the broad movement to hasten my country's admission to the United Nations showed us who our true friends were. That was a proof of friendship which we have never forgotten and shall never forget.
131. The Assembly is meeting in a climate of relaxed tension which will no doubt prove favourable to our common search for constructive solution of the many problems before us. For some time our peoples have looked forward to a just and equitable solution of these problems. Italy is prepared to make a real contribution to this relaxation of tension and I should like to express my Government's satisfaction at this recent development in the international situation.
132. We have a long a difficult road to travel and our progress will be greater and our way easier if we recognize the complexities of the situation which confronts us with difficult problems. Our main goal is coexistence, coexistence without reservations and without ulterior motives, which will ensure lasting stability in international relations and which is not merely a tactical device, a Trojan horse used to change the present balance or even to destroy it from within. If coexistence consists in legitimate competition to promote the progress and well-being of our peoples, Italy will be among its most steadfast and unwavering advocates.
133. In this new international situation we believe that the United Nations is the most suitable instrument for achieving the coexistence which is our goal, and for that reason the Italian Government considers it to be its duty and in its interest to participate as fully as possible in all activities of the United Nations. We offer our support in order that a solution of major international problems may increasingly be sought within the United Nations and in accordance with the principles and spirit of the Charter.
134. In this continuing process we know that we can count on the valuable and tireless efforts of our Secretary-General. We are indebted to Mr. Hammarskjold for his clear introduction to the annual report on the work of the Organization [A/4132/Add.1]. He has shown us how the influence of our Organization can be strengthened by developing the activities and initiatives of the statutory organs. Mr. Hammarskjold has indicated the machinery which would enable the United Nations more effectively to meet the need for improving international co-operation, bearing in mind the principle of universality, the ultimate objective of the Charter.
135. In recent years new procedures and methods of action have been tested by the United Nations with encouraging results. I refer to the activities, in various forms and in various circumstances, involving what has come to be called the "presence" of the United Nations. This is a further proof of the flexibility of our Charter and of the great scope for action by the United Nations.
136. The Italian Government has followed these initiatives with the keenest interest and sympathy and has participated directly in some of them. For example, Italy was happy to contribute a substantial number of officers from its armed forces to the United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon. This experiment produced excellent results. These results and those of earlier experiments on similar lines should, we believe, be borne in mind for the future. If the United Nations decides to set up an emergency force, Italy will participate in it. We propose to provide for such participation in our budgets and in our planning of staff requirements.
137. It would be unrealistic not to recognize the limitations which today hamper United Nations action. It is only too obvious that the historical necessities of the right of veto cannot be disregarded. Nor can we have any illusions regarding the possibility of modifying the legal situation which exists today. Nevertheless, this does not prevent us from hoping that the constitutional privilege of the veto will be resorted to only in cases of exceptional gravity. The will of a great majority would thus be allowed to prevail.
138. As the representative of a Mediterranean Power, I should like to mention the Secretary-General's patient efforts to restore peace to the Middle East. Much, of course, remains to be done, but the progress made makes the events which necessitated an emergency session of the General Assembly in August 1958 seem remote. Although the situation in the Middle East has improved, the problem of the Palestine refugees in still very far from solution. It is therefore proper that an effort should be made to work towards a solution based on human rights and on the need for harmonious economic development in that territory. I would recall that my country, which has consistently upheld the principles of freedom of navigation, has a particular interest in their application in the Mediterranean basin.
139. We have followed events in Algeria with the keenest interest and the statements of the President of France, General De Gaulle, have reassured us greatly. We consider them a courageous offer which opens up new possibilities for an equitable and Satisfactory solution of the problem as a whole. We hope that the greatest possible encouragement maybe given by this Assembly to this constructive plan,
140. We feel that this is the moment, if ever there was one, for us to make a supreme effort to achieve an agreement on disarmament. Never has the world been more convinced of the impossibility of avoiding the total destruction of mankind in the event of a general conflict and, therefore, of the necessity of avoiding any such conflict. This conviction must be followed by a decisive effort to reach a formal agreement to eliminate once and for all this agonizing threat which may otherwise paralyse all future activity. All those who have spoken before me have dealt with the question of disarmament and proposals have already been made. A Soviet plan has been formally placed on the agenda. All these initiatives deserve our full possible encouragement and my Government has already begun to study them.
141. Whatever may be the purposes of these proposals, we believe that their objectives can be achieved in a constructive and concrete manner only if the following five points are taken into account: (1) disarmament must be achieved by successive and gradual stages; (2) any agreement on a particular stage of disarmament must provide for suitable international control; (3) disarmament in the field of conventional weapons must take place concurrently with disarmament in nuclear weapons; (4) any substantial progress in disarmament must be accompanied by security agreements; (5) military disarmament will be general, rapid and lasting only to the extent that it is preceded by a truce and is accompanied by a lasting agreement concerning propaganda because, even when no military action is taking place, propaganda is one of the fronts where the fight to achieve world supremacy is waged by internal means.
142. On the basis of these five principles, the Italian Government will maintain a consistent position. In the forthcoming Geneva meeting of the ten-Power Disarmament Committee, in the United Nations Disarmament Commission, and in any other forum, the representatives of Italy will do their utmost to contribute to the progress of negotiations which we consider vital to mankind and of concern to all Members of the United Nations. It is obvious that the responsibility for disarmament rests with the United Nations to which the fate of world peace has been entrusted. It will therefore be necessary for the United Nations to receive communications from the Committee of ten countries which have decided to explore possible means of achieving an agreement on disarmament.
143. Although it is not participating in the Geneva Conference on the Discontinuance of Nuclear Weapons Tests, Italy has followed its work with particular interest and will welcome the agreements which may be reached by it and which now appear to have become a concrete possibility. Such agreements would not only reduce the risk of an atomic conflict, but would also permit development of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and thus lead towards the solution of many of the serious problems which stand in the way of the development, progress and prosperity of all mankind. The Italian Government will also continue to do all it can to ensure that rapid progress is made in regard to the peaceful use of outer space. We believe that it is urgently necessary to establish an institute for legal and scientific research, in the form of a specialized agency of the United Nations. This session of the Assembly should not adjourn without having taken a decisive position on this matter.
144. Any progress towards disarmament would facilitate the solution of another of the great problems of our time: the problem of assistance to the underdeveloped countries. This problem is of close concern to over a thousand million human beings whose lives are a daily struggle against hunger and disease. Several countries, in particular those which have recently attained political independence, rightly wish to undertake the industrial and technical revolution that will enable them to emerge from their stagnation and their age-old poverty.
145. The problem has been discussed so frequently that further elaboration is scarcely necessary. Every day, Governments, the Press, national and international organizations, groups and individuals urge the need for greater and more rapid action to accelerate the economic development. of the under-developed countries.
146. This awakening of international conscience to an understanding of the problem of economic underdevelopment is accompanied by a realization that mankind is not necessarily condemned to poverty, as men, except for a small minority of privileged persons, have been for thousands of years. Thanks to technical progress, mankind can now be freed from poverty and an age of high mass consumption is no longer a utopian dream. On the contrary, it is already a reality in all the countries that have attained a high level of industrialization.
147. The highly industrialized countries are already facing other problems — the qualitative rather than the quantitative improvement of human existence, the proper use of leisure rather than the simple satisfaction of material wants. The goal is not prosperity alone, but a life that is truly worth living. This is an objective that stirs and strengthens the hopes of millions of men and women and it is our duty not to disappoint their legitimate desire to place the tremendous technical advances of our times at the service of mankind.
148. Our responsibility is increased by the fact that technical progress is today also a cause for anxiety since it now makes possible the annihilation of mankind and of human civilization. Never before has mankind been compelled to make a more dramatic and decisive choice: the choice between annihilation and affluence, between total destruction and a richer, happier life. This is the challenge to our intelligence and good will we face today. In order to meet it, all countries, industrialized and under-developed alike, and all peoples, rich and poor, must pool their intellectual, moral and material resources in order to place technology at the service of mankind, progress and peace.
149. Ever since its admission to the United Nations, Italy has shown keen interest in the problems of economic under-development, and today more than ever my Government firmly intends to intensify its efforts at both the international and the bilateral levels. We believe that with the experience we have gained and are gaining in accelerating the industrialization and economic advancement of certain of our less developed regions we can make a substantial contribution to the satisfactory solution of these problems.
150. Our own experience has also confirmed the need for a comprehensive approach to the problem of economic development taking into account all the factors capable of contributing to accelerated growth. I would remind you of three of them: international trade, short-term and long-term capital assistance, and technical assistance. It would be useless to make a special efforts in regard to capital if protectionist policies were allowed to restrict international trade which is a source of capital and is still an essential and basic factor in economic progress. The same is true of technical assistance which cannot be as effective as we hope if capital is lacking.
151. In calling for the closest co-ordination of all action to accelerate the development of the underdeveloped economies, we wonder whether the time has not come to make more use of a regional approach, which would enable the countries of a region to intensify and concentrate their efforts towards economic and technical co-operation. The great Powers with world interests would, of course, participate in the efforts of the region, which would be based on the principle of the equality of rights and obligations of all members and on the principle that economic co-operation should be independent of political considerations.
152. With regard to international co-operation for economic development within the United Nations I should like to state that the Italian Government is giving sympathetic consideration to the possibility of substantially increasing its contributions for 1960 to the Special Fund and the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance.
153. We are also considering the possibility of increasing our contribution to UNICEF.
154. Before concluding this part of my statement I should like to pay a tribute to the distinguished work Mr. Paul Hoffman has done during the initial months of operation of the Special Fund, which is so useful a counterpart of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance under the able direction of Mr. David Owen.
155. During the past ten years Italy has perhaps contributed most directly to the work of the United Nations and assumed the heaviest responsibility in Somalia.
156. The period of our trusteeship will end in a little more than a year, and I think I can say without hesitation that the task entrusted to Italy has been accomplished in a spirit of complete loyalty to the United Nations and of brotherly interest in the people of Somalia, and that accordingly the Somali Legislative Assembly’s request that the date of the termination of trusteeship and of the Territory's accession to independence might be brought forward is, in our view, justified.
157. Somalia can justly claim that its structure is now that of a free and sovereign State. Since 30 April 1956 it has had a democratically elected Parliament which freely performs its legislative tasks. In this connexion I would point out that the political elections of 1956 and 1959 took place without any intervention on the part of the Administering Authority. During more than three years of parliamentary activities no constitutional conflict has arisen and it has never been necessary for the Administering Authority to invoke its special powers to alter the freely expressed wished of the Parliament. This Parliament will also act as a constituent Assembly and as such will draw up the country's new Constitution. Somalia already has a national government which functions freely and actively and is fully responsible to the Parliament, of which it is an expression. Somalia also has a civil service responsible for almost all departments of public life.
158. Somalia already has its own monetary system, and its economy, although not prosperous, at least has a solid structure and a sound foundation, so that in view of the remarkable progress achieved under trusteeship we can look forward with confidence to its future. Nevertheless much remains to be done before the termination of trusteeship. Italy will do its utmost to accelerate the transfer of the powers still vested in it as the Administering Authority.
159. Political independence must, however, always have as its main foundation the solidity of the economic structure. As we have said on other occasions, Italy is therefore prepared to continue to assist Somalia for some time and we know that contributions will also be forthcoming from the United States and the United Kingdom. But Italy obviously cannot continue this financial assistance indefinitely. My Government accordingly attaches the greatest importance to the acceleration of Somalia's economic development. To this end it will be necessary to make infrastructure investments for which public capital is needed. The exceptional expenditures involved are, I believe, of the kind for which assistance might be furnished by the United Nations through its agencies and the Special Fund.
160. To conclude this part of my remarks I should like to express sincere good wishes for the future of independent Somalia and its peaceful and fruitful coexistence with its neighbouring States.
161. Before I conclude my statement, however, I should like to voice certain misgivings which temper our satisfaction at the increasingly effective action of the United Nations in the service of peace. We are perturbed by the scant attention given in the past to the Assembly's decisions concerning the question of Hungary and to the more recent events in Tibet and Laos. If we did not voice our anxiety at these grave violations of international law we should be guilty of weakness and even of an act of complicity which might one day turn against us. In matters of principle there can be no compromise and we therefore feel compelled to call the attention of the Assembly and of Member States to the necessity for re-establishing respect for the most elementary rules of international law in the three areas I have mentioned.
162. But they are not the only cases which demand attention. It seems to us equally important to safeguard the civil liberties of the people of West Berlin and to restore the unity of Germany through the free expression of the Will of the German people. Peace has hitherto been preserved in this area by a regional arrangement of the kind envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations — NATO, in which my country has the honour to participate. We cannot do otherwise than express our sincere desire that the people of West Berlin may continue to live and prosper in the climate of freedom guaranteed by the existing agreements. We can also envisage the possibility that the United Nations may one day be called upon to undertake functions and establish machinery for the solution of the many problems that arise in this area.
163. With regard to the special problem of Laos and the recent discussions in the Security Council, the Italian Government is following the action undertaken, in the belief and hope that the mission of inquiry dispatched to Laos will furnish information that will be useful in undertaking further initiative, and that its very presence in Laos will serve to deter the acts of interference which threaten the security of that newly independent country. No valid criticism can be levelled against the decisions taken by a great majority in the Security Council; they were the least that could be taken in response to an appeal from a Member State.
164. Italy has been a Member of the United Nations for less than three years, but has always had the greatest respect for the ideals of peace and progress the Organization has set out to achieve. We are therefore resolved to observe the spirit and letter of the United Nations Charter.
165. Before I conclude I must refer to that part of the statement made in this Assembly by the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kreisky [800th meeting], which has a direct bearing on my country. My Government categorically rejects the attempt to bring up for discussion here a question which is not within the province of the Assembly.
166. I must also deplore the strange procedure which the Austrian Government has followed in making such statements while diplomatic conversations are in progress between Italy and Austria on matters concerning the two countries, including certain aspects of the application of the De Gasperi-Gruber agreement, in which an attempt was made in 1946 to work out a definitive solution of the question of the Alto Adige. The attempt to engage in polemics on the subject endangers the success of the talks; if that is Austria’s purpose it must assume full responsibility for the outcome. Austria’s attitude is far from reassuring. It is tantamount to ignoring the facts in an attempt to achieve aims which have no relation to the facts themselves or to the terms of the De Gasperi-Gruber agreement. It is impossible to come to terms with those who claim that they have not obtained satisfaction or forget what they have obtained, with those who negotiate a final settlement and later make it the basis for subsequent claims, or with those who artificially create a controversy because they wish a continuing crisis.
167. As Mr. Kreisky’s statement, in so far as it refers to Italian domestic affairs or relates to a legal evaluation of a bilateral agreement, does not fall within the competence of this Assembly, I do not intend, by dealing with the substance of the question, to subscribe in any way to the inadmissible interpretation of the statutory rules by the representative of Austria.
168. I will only remind you that Italy has not only applied the De Gasperi-Gruber agreement, but has also accorded the minorities of the Alto Adige a liberality of treatment unsurpassed in any other part of the world.
169. Nor must we forget that the allogeneous population of the Alto Adige expressed its wishes in a free referendum at the end of the Second World War, when it asked and was allowed to become Italian again, although in 1939 it had voted by a large majority for transfer to Nazi Germany. The latest choice was freely made and must be considered final.
170. At the thirteenth session of the General Assembly, and at others, one urgent question was present in the minds of all representatives and implicit in all the speeches made: how was the United Nations, with its still limited resources, to deal with the problems of the day? The gap between reality and the existing needs seemed so great that pessimism was justified.
171. Today the search for methods of achieving peace continues, butwefeelatleastthatweare.no longer in a state of crisis and that we are working in a less dramatic but more constructive atmosphere.
172. Italy pledges its full contribution to this constructive task and this labour for peace.