http://www.esteri.it/MAE/EN/Sala_Stampa/ArchivioNotizie/Approfondimenti/2009/06/20090617_G8Trieste.htmMeeting of G8 Foreign Ministers (Trieste, 25-27 June 2009)
17 June 2009
The first annual meeting of G8 Foreign Ministers (the second is planned for 24 September, in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly) is taking place in Trieste from 25 to 27 June 2009. It is the most important occasion for concerted political action by the heads of diplomacy of the 8 major economies in the run-up to the Summit of Heads of State and Government (L’Aquila, 8-10 July).
The meeting in Trieste will see 2 important new developments which reflect the Italian Presidency’s intention to impart greater dynamism to the G8 and its operations by proposing previously untried formats, methods and content.
1. The first innovation is the priority focus on global challenges to security. In preparation for Trieste our Presidency has dedicated 2 events specifically to these challenges: the nuclear disarmament conference on “Overcoming Nuclear Dangers” (Rome, 16-17 April) and the conference on “Destabilising Factors and Trans-National Threats” (Rome, 23-24 April).
In addition to the attention traditionally devoted to non-proliferation, combating terrorism and fighting organised trans-national crime, this year the ministerial declaration will devote a special space to piracy, with a view to achieving increasingly effective coordination in combating this phenomenon and supporting the multilateral activities currently under way in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.
Iran is one of the most prominent regional issues: the dramatic developments in the wake of the presidential elections of 12 June will also be discussed in the light of their consequences on the nuclear dossier.
Another hot issue will be North Korea (DPRK), which caused new concerns with the nuclear test in May, which was carried out in breach of Security Council Resolution 1718. Also of concern is the launching of ballistic missiles, again viewed as a provocation undermining regional stability.
The new American administration’s commitment lends new substance to international concerted action on the Middle East. The discussion by G8 Ministers will also serve to prepare the meeting of the Quartet (UASA, EU, Russia and the UN). This will take place the same day, with the aim of re-starting the peace process in the Middle East and reiterating the need to reach a solution based on the principle of “two peoples, two states”.
2. The second new development under the Italian Presidency is the outreach session with Afghanistan, its neighbours and other international actors of particular relevance to the area.
In introducing new elements with respect to the initiative organised by the German Presidency in 2007, the aim is to organise a broader-based event. The G8 Foreign Ministers will meet first with representatives from Kabul and will then consult more widely, first with the countries of the region and then with other countries engaged in the stabilisation effort there. Also present will be the main multilateral organisations operating in the area (UNAMA, UNODC, UNHCR and NATO).
The G8 working sessions dedicated to the Afghanistan dossier will encompass border management and the fight against illegal trafficking, and as such require the participation and cooperation of neighbouring countries. Antonio Costa, executive director of Unodoc (one of the UN agencies most active in the region) will illustrate the new “Regional Programme”, which aims to support Afghanistan and the countries of the region in fighting narco-trafficking and related crimes (money laundering, contraband, and organised crime). Alongside the two foreign ministers directly concerned, Tangin Dadfar Spanta from Afghanistan and Makhdoom Mahmood Qureshi from Pakistan, representatives of India, Russia and the former Soviet republics of central Asia will also be present. Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke, who has recently returned from a mission in the region, will speak about Afghanistan on behalf of the United States.
Refugees and migrants, economic development and infrastructure, agriculture and food security, are the topics for the other working sessions, which will also involve neighbouring countries, contributing countries, international organisations and bodies operating in the area. These range from China to Egypt, from Norway to the UN, to the European institutions. It is now agreed that transport, trade, water, energy and agriculture, education, refugees and their integration are problems whose solution offers considerable margins for mutually beneficial regional cooperation.
In using the Ministerial G8 in Trieste for a meeting on the regional dimension of the stabilisation of Afghanistan the project launched in autumn 2008 closes a gap in international diplomacy that Italy has been stressing for some time. Although numerous conferences dedicated to Afghanistan have taken place in recent years, it has not been possible before now to tackle the problem from a regional perspective and in a structured, sector-based manner, with the participation of the major actors, countries and organisations concerned.
At Minister Frattini’s initiative Trieste will also be hosting an international conference entitled “Afghanistan and its geographical context: development of a regional network of cultural and scientific cooperation”. The aim of the event, which will take place in the historic Palazzo della Borsa, is to develop a network of cultural and scientific collaboration between Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries from the perspective of “people to people contacts’’, as a factor strengthening the regional stabilisation process. It has been made possible by the joint commitment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Trieste-based Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), which has excellent relations with scientific and academic institutions in the countries concerned.
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