UN General Assembly
1951

I should like first of all to express my delegation’s sincere gratitude for the friendly hospitality offered by this two thousand year old city towards which the hopeful eyes of the world are turned. 72. It is no mere coincidence that the General Assembly of the United Nations is holding its sixth session in a country which is making a magnificent effort at reconstruction in a continent still suffering from the consequences of the Second World War and beset by fresh economic, political and social difficulties. The meetings of the General Assembly, the principal aim of which is to re-establish confidence in the possibility of peoples living peacefully together, cannot find a more propitious setting than this Republic which, after suffering twice in a single generation the horrors of war, draws strength from its painful experiences and hopes for living conditions which will enable it to view the future with optimism.