Today sadly marks the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. Numerous initiatives have been organised at a multilateral level to continue to keep the international community's attention on this conflict.

This afternoon, a reinforced session of the OSCE Permanent Council took place in Vienna. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Luca Beccari, among other distinguished representatives, addressed this session.

Minister Beccari strongly condemned this and all wars and made an impassioned plea for peace and the re-establishment of political-diplomatic dialogue. He called upon the OSCE to promote mediation in the search for just and equitable peace conditions, emphasising the importance of dialogue precisely in multilateral fora, which are the privileged places for the resolution of international conflicts.

Minister Beccari said that the Republic of San Marino firmly believes in the strength of multilateralism and in the mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which, with its all-encompassing approach to conflict, actively contributed, also in the past, to the de-escalation of bitter conflicts that divided the world into two opposing warring factions. Minister Beccari declared that differences, even the deepest and seemingly irreconcilable ones, must be addressed with the weapons of politics and diplomacy.

On Thursday, 23 February 2023, in New York, the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution entitled “Principles Underlying a Comprehensive, Just, and Lasting Peace in Ukraine”. San Marino strongly supported this Resolution, which, among other things, encourages the parties to seek dialogue for a global, just and lasting peace.

Ambassador Eros Gasperoni spoke this morning at the Committee of Ministers' Deputies of the Council of Europe, representing the Republic of San Marino, and took part in the “United for Ukraine” event. San Marino emphasised the need to restore peace so that weapons would finally be silenced.

In Rome, the Ukrainian Permanent Representation organised a commemorative event at the FAO, focusing on global food security, which is being challenged by the ongoing war. The Ukrainian Embassy in Rome also hosted a commemorative event, which was attended by San Marino Representation in Italy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that, a year after the outbreak of the war, San Marino has welcomed more than 400 Ukrainian citizens who were forced to flee their country. To date, some 113 Ukrainians are present on San Marino territory. San Marino Institutions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs express their deep gratitude to those who opened their doors to Ukrainian citizens. The Institutions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to work tirelessly in the search for new and more appropriate conditions for the stay, work and integration of Ukrainian citizens. The Republic of San Marino has done its best and will spare no efforts also in the future to favour, at a bilateral and multilateral level, reconciliation and peace between the conflicting parties.

San Marino, 24 February 2023