GLOBAL GREEN USA AND ITS PARTNERS ORGANIZE ROUNDTABLE ON ITALY'S ROLE IN THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP AND NONPROLIFERATION OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN RUSSIA AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

Italian Senate President Will Host Event in Italian Senate, October 19th 

October 12, 2006, Washington, DC – Green Cross International, and its affiliates, Green Cross Italy, Green Cross Switzerland, Green Cross Russia, and Global Green USA, in collaboration with the Monterey Institute Center for Nonproliferation Studies and the International Affairs Institute, will host a roundtable discussion on “Current Global Partnership Initiatives and Italian Programs: Submarine Dismantlement, Chemical Weapons Destruction, and Plutonium Disposition in Russia.”  The event is sponsored by the Italian Senate President, Mr. Franco Marini, and will take place in the Italian Senate, Rome, Italy on October 19, 2006 between 9:00 AM and 1:30 PM. 

The half-day roundtable discussion will focus on the G-8 Global Partnership initiatives and the role of Italy in nonproliferation and elimination of weapons of mass destruction and related systems in Russia. The audience will consist of Italian government officials, members of Parliament, nonproliferation experts, foreign embassy officials, and press. 

The goal of the discussion is to analyze how Italy can best maximize its substantial Global Partnership commitments, and increase the effectiveness of its nonproliferation projects, through more active participation and cooperation with other Global Partnership countries in order to fulfill the 2002 Kananaskis goals and objectives.  Italy has pledged 1 billion Euros to the Global Partnership, and is now beginning to design and implement concrete assistance projects. This timely exchange of views, four years after the Kananaskis G-8 summit, will cover cooperative programs to date, primarily the dismantling and securing of nuclear-powered submarines and related nuclear materials, the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles in Russia, and potential Italian projects in other related areas.