\u201cThe United Nations is far from perfect, and this is why we support the UN80 reform agenda,\u201d said Bart De Wever, Prime Minister of Belgium. \u00a0As the world confronts new forms of imperialism, emerging military threats and violent conflicts destabilizing entire regions, \u201cthose who wish for peace must be prepared to defend it\u201d, he stressed.\u00a0 Belgium is therefore assuming its responsibility by investing more in defence.\u00a0 Alongside its European partners, it is working toward deeper integration of the armed forces and the defence industry while also strengthening ties with all countries committed to peace and stability.<\/p>\n
On the rise of international organized crime, he warned: \u00a0\u201cCriminals know no borders.\u201d\u00a0 Exploiting gaps between police forces and legal systems, criminal networks fuel terrorism, human trafficking and the illegal arms trade.\u00a0 Still, \u201cthere is hope\u201d, he said, noting a new willingness to deepen cooperation in Europe and Latin America, with many African and Asian countries facing similar challenges.\u00a0 \u201cTogether, we can make our societies open for business but closed for crime,\u201d he added, stressing that \u201cthe security of our citizens must always remain our first responsibility\u201d.<\/p>\n
Underscoring the importance of ensuring \u201cas much prosperity as possible for as many people as possible\u201d, he cautioned that today\u2019s world is once again \u201cgripped by protectionism\u201d.\u00a0 History, however, offers clear evidence: \u00a0for more than two centuries, free and fair trade has been the engine of progress, reducing extreme poverty, lengthening life expectancy and driving medical breakthroughs against once-devastating diseases.\u00a0Defending free and fair trade is therefore essential. \u00a0\u201cWe must create prosperity that is globally shared,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cLet us prove that the destiny of humankind is not to dominate or to suffer, but to cooperate and to prosper.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe United Nations is far from perfect, and this is why we support the UN80 reform agenda,\u201d said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,460,461,459],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-general-assembly","tag-general-debate","tag-united-nations"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}