remarks<\/a>, Ambassador Bencini noted that, while 2025 had seen a \u201cremarkable result\u201d in the Conference with the establishment of subsidiary bodies under the Italian Presidency \u2014 the first time this happened so early in the session since 1996 \u2014 the 2026 session had unfortunately \u201ctaken a step back\u201d by reverting to a less structured format.<\/p>\nHe stressed that the CD\u2019s difficulties do not stem from intrinsic flaws in the body itself, but from \u201cdeeply entrenched and politically sensitive decades-old divisions\u201d and the current tense state of international relations. \u201cWhen mutual trust is at an all-time low and dialogue is faltering, how can we expect a breakthrough on the sensitive security questions we deal with in this body?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Bencini expressed concern over growing criticism of the CD that is \u201cnot counterbalanced by constructive proposals or alternative approaches,\u201d recalling Italy\u2019s own concrete suggestions, most recently outlined on 24 March. He underlined the continued value of the CD as a forum for discussion, including on emerging issues linked to new technologies, and welcomed high-level political participation, such as the visit of US Under Secretary DiNanno in February.<\/p>\n
Concluding on a hopeful note, he praised the \u201ccompetent and committed diplomats\u201d who make up the disarmament community, describing them as \u201chuman capital that we will badly need one day, hopefully soon, when we negotiate treaties again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, when the weather is uncertain, as is the case today, all we have to do is wait for the sun to return, and remain confident that it will,\u201d Ambassador Bencini said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geneva, 21 August 2026 \u2014 Ambassador Leonardo Bencini, Italy\u2019s Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament (CD), delivered his final statement today at the plenary, marking the end of his mandate in Geneva after four years of service. In his remarks, Ambassador Bencini noted that, while 2025 had seen a \u201cremarkable result\u201d in the Conference […]","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":12617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12629,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12623\/revisions\/12629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappdisarmo.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}