VIDEO | G7, Emmi (Civil 7): “Enough weapons, it’s time to build peace”
At the center of the first day of work was the Ukraine dossier, with the participation of the head of state Volodymyr Zelensky
BARI – Instead of investing thousands of billions of dollars in weapons, the G7 countries should commit themselves to “building peace”, also preventing new conflicts: this is underlined by Valeria Emmi< /strong>, sherpa of Civil 7, international civil society network. The occasion is an interview with the Dire agency on the sidelines of the summit of heads of state and government starting in the Apulian resort of Borgo Egnazia.
At the center of the first day of work is the Ukraine dossier, with the participation of the head of State Volodymyr Zelensky at a special session that began in the afternoon.
“The theme of peace and the financing of weapons to counterattack and actually defend countries that are suffering aggression is essential in the appeal of Civil 7, a network which brings together 700 organizations from over 70 countries” is Emmi’s premise, also in reference to the conflict in Eastern Europe with Russia.
According to the sherpa, social organizations ask for the “building of a peace that is positive and that is based on negotiations”.
There is then a reflection on data developed starting from an objective indicated by the general secretary of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg: all the countries of the Atlantic Alliance, this is the thesis, should spend at least 2 percent of their domestic product gross (GDP) in armaments and military technologies. According to the Bloomberg news agency, if such a choice were made, only the European member states of NATO would be asked to invest 470 billion dollars. Military experts have also argued that to have adequate “deterrence power” national expenditure should be raised to 4 percent of GDP.
“We ask the G7 leaders instead not to invest 10 thousand billions of dollars in weapons alone” says Emmi, with estimates projected over a ten-year time horizon.
The Sherpa is convinced that peace must also be built even in the absence of conflicts already underway. “It must be a continuous construction” is Emmi’s appeal. “Only in this way will it be possible to prevent wars and create the conditions for a world in which all states and all peoples can coexist”.