Holy See calls for responsibility on arms trade at UN...

During the recent 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See, gave a statement about disarmament and international security. Recalling that the world expects tangible and convincing results in the hope of seeing a world free of nuclear weapons, with strict controls over arms trade and that military expenditures for 2008 increased by 4%, thus amounting to some 1.4 billion US dollars, the Archbishop urged that multilateralism must be strengthened as one of the alternatives to excessive military spending, which ultimately will not lower security. He reiterated the Holy Sees commitment to advancing the work on an Arms Trade Treaty, as a legally binding instrument on import, export and transfer of arms. Weapons, he said cannot be considered as any other good exchanged on the global, regional or national market, and their excessive stock-piling or indiscriminate trading -- especially to conflict-affected areas -- cannot, by any means, be morally justified. He also advised that nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation should not divert our sight and attention from many long-standing yet unresolved issues, concluding that as a new disarmament cycle begins in these days, let us join efforts and good will so that international security is provided with well-functioning multilateral organisms.

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• arms
• Holy
• See
• trade
• Assembly
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• Nations
• Migliore
• Celestino