19 September 2007 :

according to the Italian Foreign Affairs Minister, Massimo D'Alema, the key for getting the resolution for the moratorium on the death penalty approved is maintaining European unity on the issue.
D'Alema said the European Union gave enormous importance to the issue. “We hope that the other countries’ participation will consolidate, we want them with us, with equal dignity, as promoters of the resolution. We are close to the finish line.” D'Alema also warned the battle must not be taken for granted. “We have tried two times before and we did not succeed. This time we want to succeed. In collaboration with the Portuguese Presidency we have fought to ensure this initiative becomes an EU initiative and we have achieved a great success because the EE has decided to back it.” “We were the first ones who struggled for this initiative and we can't abandon it. Italy has been the protagonists of this movement from the beginning.”