Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Oct. 23 discouraged Japan from pursuing a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, saying Italy opposes expanding the number of permanent members.During a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo's Hibiya district, he also stressed that "there is no fighting between Japan and Italy," and that Italy shares Japan's view that the Security Council should reflect the current structure of the international community. The disagreement between the two nations, he said, is a debate over how best to achieve a more accurate representation.Prodi said that increasing the number of nonpermanent members is acceptable, but raising the number of permanent seats is unacceptable. He argued that major countries such as Japan can gain stronger voices by getting more opportunities to become nonpermanent members. Japan has been lobbying hard both for an increase in the number of permanent seats and for one of those seats.
