UN Human Rights Treaties

United Nations
General Assembly
Official Records
Forty-ninth Session
11th Meeting
Thursday, 29 September 1994, 3 p.m.
New York
President: Mr. Essy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Côte d’Ivoire)
The meeting was called to order at 3.40 p.m.
Address by Mr. Heydar Alirza ogly Aliyev, President of
the Azerbaijani Republic
The President (interpretation from French): The
Assembly will first hear an address by the President of the
Azerbaijani Republic.
Mr. Heydar Alirza ogly Aliyev, President of the
Azerbaijani Republic, was escorted into the General
Assembly Hall.
The President (interpretation from French): On
behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to
welcome to the United Nations the President of the
Azerbaijani Republic, His Excellency Mr. Heydar Alirza
ogly Aliyev, and to invite him to address the Assembly.
President Aliyev (interpretation from Russian):
Allow me, first, to express my sincere satisfaction on the
occasion of your election, Sir, as President of the General
Assembly at its forty-ninth session and to wish you every
success in your work.
I should like also to thank the President of the last
session, Mr. Samuel Insanally, for the work he did.
I express my deep gratitude to the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his tireless efforts to
strengthen peace and security throughout the world. I
should like to extend to him my very special appreciation,
especially for his keen interest in the problems of our
young State, which is going through a complicated period
of its history.
It is with a sense of excitement and pride that I am
addressing this Assembly from the podium of the most
authoritative international forum. For the first time, the
President of an independent Azerbaijan is representing his
country before the international community, a country that
has been recognized by this community and has joined it
as an equal among equals.
The Azerbaijani people have striven for freedom for
centuries. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union
they gained their national independence. Our Republic
has embarked upon the road of constructing a law-based,
democratic and civilized State. This is a complicated
process; it cannot be completed overnight, but we are
steadily moving towards our goal. During a short period
of time a great deal has been accomplished, and all the
conditions have been created for the formation of a
law-based, democratic society. We have evolved in our
Republic a multi-party system, firmly based on the
principles of political pluralism and freedom of the
individual, speech, the press and conscience, as well as
principles of respect for human rights and the rule of law.
All citizens of multinational Azerbaijan enjoy equal
rights, irrespective of their racial, religious and linguistic
affiliations.
Political changes and the democratization of the
country have created the conditions for carrying out deep
A/49/PV.11
94-86461 (E) This record contains the original text of speeches delivered in English and interpretations of speeches
delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to original speeches only. They
should be incorporated in a copy of the record and be sent under the signature of a member of the
delegation concerned, within one week of the date of publication, to the Chief of the Verbatim
Reporting Section, Room C-178. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a
consolidated corrigendum. When the result of a recorded and/or roll-call vote is followed by an
asterisk, see annex to the record.
General Assembly 11th meeting
Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
economic reforms, ensuring a transition to a market
economy. We fully encourage the development of free
enterprise and private initiative. We are on the way to
realizing a large-scale privatization programme, using world
experience based upon common human values - on the
experience of leading countries that have already achieved
great success in constructing civilized, prosperous and
democratic societies.
Located at the important geopolitical junction of
Europe and Asia and the focus of the keen interest of many
Powers, possessing rich natural resources and a substantial
industrial potential and guided by the firm will and
confidence of the Azerbaijani people, we are carrying out
the strategy of strengthening our independence and
implementing democratic market reforms. Today, from this
lofty rostrum, I firmly declare that no one will be able to
make the Azerbaijani people stray from this path. We look
to the future of our country with optimism.
Our optimism is also linked with historic processes
taking place in the world as well as with profound changes
in the system of international relations. A world order
based on equal rights and replacing military and ideological
confrontation will certainly form the future basis of this
system. Partnership and enduring peace and security for
everyone, in accordance with international law and the
principles and provisions of the United Nations Charter, are
becoming the fundamental principles of the new world
order. We see the light at the end of the tunnel, a tunnel
leading from a world of hostility based on the use of force
to an era of cooperation and prosperity. We are ready to
walk along this road together, hand in hand with all the
other countries and peoples of the world.
However, the threats looming over mankind have not
been totally eliminated. Old stereotypes still exist, and
numerous problems, accumulated over decades of
confrontation, especially problems in the sphere of
disarmament and the elimination of weapons of mass
destruction, have not yet been overcome. Relations
between States with different economic potentials still
suffer from the maladies of the past. Time is presenting us
with new challenges, challenges linked with environmental
difficulties and population and development problems.
Aggressive nationalism and separatism, giving birth to
conflicts in the Caucasus, the Balkans and other hot spots,
have become realities following the collapse of the old
world order. These conflicts not only hamper the
development of independent States and directly threaten the
very existence of fledgling democracies, but also threaten
international security as a whole.
That is why, in a post-confrontational world, a
special responsibility rests on the shoulders of
authoritative international organizations as well as on
those shoulders of the big Powers. Using their political
weight and their economic, financial and military
resources, they must more actively direct their potential
towards extinguishing the flame of conflicts and towards
the consolidation of peace, stability and security
throughout the world.
It goes without saying that in the construction of a
new world order there is a leading role for the United
Nations, which will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary next
year, and for its Security Council, which has extensive
experience in resolving a number of conflicts and crises.
However, the Security Council will still face the difficult
test of proving to the international community its
efficiency under new conditions. Today, as never before,
the Security Council is required to be more persistent in
achieving guaranteed implementation of its resolutions.
We hope that enlargement of the Council will contribute
to its strengthening.
We attach great importance to the role of the
General Assembly, which is primarily seen as ensuring
the closest possible interaction between States in the
decision-making process, on the basis of compromises
and the balance of interests.
Under present conditions, one should mention the
increased importance of the efficient use by the
Secretary-General of his powers, as well as the support
that must be given him by Member States, which share
with him the responsibility for strengthening international
peace and security.
Generally speaking, the Azerbaijani Republic is
optimistic about the future of the United Nations. We are
determined to continue to protect the lofty principles of
the United Nations and to seek improvement in the
authority and efficiency of the Organization.
For many of those present the notion of war and
armed conflict may, fortunately, be associated with
history or faraway events. But for my people it is a cruel
reality and a bloody daily routine.
For six years the flame of war has been blazing on
the land of Azerbaijan. The Republic of Armenia, under
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the pretext of realizing the right to self-determination of an
ethnic group of Armenians living in the Nagorny Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan, is openly carrying out plans to annex
the territories of our State, to forcibly change its State
borders and to expel the Azerbaijani people from their
homes.
All this is cloaked by an arbitrary interpretation of the
right of peoples to self-determination as meaning a right of
any ethnic community to proclaim itself independent and to
join another State. Such an interpretation of the right to
self-determination blatantly contradicts the principles of
State sovereignty and territorial integrity. Any attempt to
make this right absolute results in cruel conflicts, which we
have witnessed in our region and in other parts of our
planet.
The Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has
expressed his concern on this issue, saying:
"... if every ethnic, religious or linguistic group
claimed statehood, there would be no limit to
fragmentation, and peace, security and economic
well-being for all would become ever more difficult to
achieve." (A/47/277, para. 17)
I fully agree with Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali that:
"The sovereignty, territorial integrity and
independence of States within the established
international system, and the principle of selfdetermination
for peoples, both of great value
and importance, must not be permitted to work
against each other in the period ahead."
(ibid, para. 19)
Being aware that the international community is
insufficiently, and sometimes unilaterally, informed about
events in our region, I should like to brief the Assembly on
the real situation.
Having created a powerful military build-up on the
territory of the Nagorny Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, the
Republic of Armenia started intensive military activities
against our Republic. With the occupation of the town of
Shusha and of the Lachin region, the annexation of
Nagorny Karabakh was completed, and about 50,000
resident Azerbaijanis were ousted. Using the Nagorny
Karabakh springboard, Armenian armed forces then
occupied another six regions of Azerbaijan: Kalbajar,
Agdam, Fizuli, Djebrail, Zangelan and Kubatli, which, like
the Lachin region, are situated outside the former Nagorny
Karabakh autonomous region, with a territory four times
bigger than that of Nagorny Karabakh.
As a result of the aggression, more than 20 per cent
of the territory of Azerbaijan is under occupation by the
armed forces of the Republic of Armenia. I must
mention here the huge losses on the Azerbaijani side:
more than 20,000 killed, about 100,000 wounded and
6,000 taken prisoner. In addition, more than 1 million
Azerbaijanis - about 15 per cent of the population - have
become refugees and live in tents. In their own country
they have been deprived of shelter, and they suffer from
heat, cold and epidemics, and experience shortages of
their basic needs. Seven hundred towns and villages have
been levelled on the occupied Azerbaijani territories;
practically all the houses, schools, hospitals, and ancient
monuments have been burned down and looted.
I think there is no need to prove that here we are
dealing not with the realization of the right to
self-determination, but with a gross violation of
international law, in the form of aggression against the
sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence
of a United Nations Member State.
The war has created unbearable conditions for my
people. It aggravates social tension and hampers the
implementation of economic and political reforms aimed
at the democratization of Azerbaijani society.
As a result of the war, the Azerbaijani people have
suffered a huge material loss, amounting to billions of
dollars. As for the moral damage inflicted on human life
and destiny, there is hardly anything to compare to the
sorrow and pain of my people.
Blood is being shed now, not only in Azerbaijan, but
also in other hot spots of the world. Peoples must not
remain indifferent to these tragic events. Collective
efforts should be made in order to prevent the escalation
of armed conflicts and to achieve their just and lasting
resolution.
During the past two years the Security Council
adopted four resolutions and its President has made six
statements in connection with the occupation of
Azerbaijani territories by armed forces of the Republic of
Armenia.
In all its resolutions the Security Council reaffirms
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Azerbaijani
Republic; emphasizes the inadmissibility of the use of
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force for the acquisition of territory; it strongly demands
the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of
all occupying forces from all the occupied regions of
Azerbaijan; and calls for the return of refugees to their
homes.
But all these decisions have so far been completely
ignored by the Republic of Armenia. Moreover, Armenia
continues to build up its military presence in the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan.
On the other hand, the Security Council has also failed
to put into effect the mechanism for implementing the
resolutions. Here we face a question: to what extent is the
Security Council consistent and resolute, and how is the
degree of application of its powers in each case defined?
Non-compliance with the decisions of the Security
Council does not serve the interests of the United Nations,
and may undermine confidence in its abilities to achieve its
main objective: the maintenance of international peace and
security.
Experience gained in the process of settling regional
conflicts shows that the efforts to implement resolutions
succeed only when endorsed by the political-military means
envisaged in the United Nations Charter.
The duty of the most authoritative international
organization in the world community is to take effective
measures with respect to the aggressor State, which is
blatantly violating norms of international law.
In the efforts to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict, we rely on such an authoritative organization as
the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
(CSCE). The Minsk Group, created by the CSCE for the
settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, also
proceeds on the basis of the necessity for the evacuation of
all the occupied territories and the complete withdrawal of
the occupying forces beyond the boundaries of Azerbaijan.
It also calls for respect for the sovereignty, territorial
integrity and internationally recognized borders of
Azerbaijan.
However, unfortunately, the numerous mediation
efforts of the CSCE have not yet brought about any
tangible, concrete results, due to the lack of appropriate
mechanisms.
Only now do we have the first positive result. At the
cost of enormous efforts, and owing to active mediation by
the Russian Federation and the CSCE Minsk Group, a
cease-fire has been achieved in the conflict zone. The
fighting and bloodshed have been stopped for more than
four months. We greatly appreciate all this. But the
situation still remains very complicated and the truce is
very fragile.
The Republic of Armenia has put forward an
illegitimate condition, that of exchanging part of the
occupied Azerbaijani territories for independent status for
the Nagorny Karabakh region of the Azerbaijani Republic.
It demands that it keep its military presence in this
Azerbaijani region and that it control the town of Shusha
and the Lachin region of Azerbaijan, which implies
consolidation of its annexation of our territories.
Armenia completely excludes the restoration of the
demographic composition of Nagorny Karabakh as it was
at the beginning of the conflict and the return of the
Azerbaijani population, including its return to one of the
ancient centres of Azerbaijani culture, the town of
Shusha. On these conditions, Armenia, ignoring the
Security Council’s resolutions, proposes the deployment
of an international separation force along the perimeter of
the occupied Nagorny Karabakh region of Azerbaijan,
thus trying to turn it into a tool for freezing the situation
and to make it a hostage of its annexationist policy.
The position of the Azerbaijani Republic has always
been constructive and peace-loving. Despite all the
damage inflicted upon us, we propose peace to the
Armenian side on the basis of international law, justice
and humanism. We are prepared to provide guarantees to
the Armenian population of Nagorny Karabakh. We
favour the restoration, on a mutual basis, of
communications in the region, including the humanitarian
corridor between Nagorny Karabakh and the Republic of
Armenia. We are also prepared to discuss the status of
Nagorny Karabakh within the Azerbaijani State.
However, there are norms and principles that we
consider eternal: the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of our country, the evacuation of all the occupied
territories and the return of refugees to their homes,
including the return of 50,000 Azerbaijani refugees to
their native land in Nagorny Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani Republic, while it still wants a
peaceful political settlement, considers that only the
elimination of the consequences of aggression, through
the implementation of Security Council resolutions, will
make it possible to carry on a stable and productive
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negotiating process, with the goal of establishing a durable,
stable cease-fire and ensuring security for all the people of
the region. Here we count on the assistance of the world
community to ensure the realization of coordinated peaceful
decisions on the basis of a precise mandate for peacekeepers
in accordance with international norms.
We highly appreciate the cease-fire agreement. We
realize that it does not mean peace yet, but it creates the
necessary conditions for its rapid achievement. On several
occasions we have voiced our firm resolution to observe the
cease-fire regime until the peace agreement is reached and
there is a total cessation of the military conflict. I repeat
that today from this lofty rostrum of the United Nations.
We support the peace-keeping activities of the CSCE
Minsk Group and the Russian Federation, and favour the
consolidation of their efforts against any kind of
competition in the process of settling the conflict. Such
competition could only complicate the achievement of
peace, which is needed equally by the peoples of
Azerbaijan and of Armenia.
Our demands for the complete evacuation of all
occupied Azerbaijani territories are legitimate; they are in
full conformity with Security Council resolutions. Attempts
to annex any regions are unacceptable to us and go against
the norms of international law.
As a result of a war thrust upon us, an extremely
difficult humanitarian situation has emerged in the
Republic. Every seventh person in a country with a
population of 7 million is a refugee, lacking a home, work
and means for existence. Suffering from harsh miseries,
refugees and displaced persons are staying in tent camps.
The severe winter conditions and the lack of necessary food
and medicines have created a threat of epidemics and
famine among the most vulnerable group of the population.
Overcoming the extremely grave refugee situation has
become one of the major concerns of the Azerbaijani State.
International organizations and a number of States
have responded to the urgent appeal of our Republic, and
we express our most sincere gratitude to the Governments
of Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan,
Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark, which have
become the largest donors to the United Nations
programmes of humanitarian assistance to Azerbaijan. We
are also grateful to the Governments of Turkey, Iran, Saudi
Arabia and other countries for their considerable
humanitarian assistance within the framework of bilateral
relations, and to the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, the International Committee
of the Red Cross, the United Nations Children’s Fund,
Doctors Without Borders and numerous non-governmental
organizations which have rendered invaluable assistance
to the refugees and displaced persons in Azerbaijan.
The role and place of my country in international
relations are influenced by its geographical location and
socio-political orientation, as well as the historical-cultural
traditions of a land where Western and Eastern
civilizations have merged. It is with an awareness of
these peculiarities and the challenges of change that we
are building, step by step, our cooperation with the
outside world. Since the international recognition of the
Azerbaijani Republic, we have established equal, balanced
relations with the overwhelming majority of States, and
we have joined a number of world and regional
organizations. We have made serious efforts to expand
our international relations and to restore the links that
were lost due to certain conditions. Attaching special
importance to historical, geographical, economic and
humanitarian links with the independent States that have
emerged on the territory of the former Soviet Union, we
favour the development of equal cooperation with them,
in particular with Russia, both on the basis of bilateral
relations and within the framework of the Commonwealth
of Independent States.
Azerbaijan is developing friendly relations with the
United States, the United Kingdom, France and China.
Close good-neighbourly ties link us with the countries of
our region and of adjacent regions, countries such as
Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, with
which we closely cooperate within the Organization of the
Islamic Conference.
Azerbaijan’s accession in May this year to the
Partnership for Peace programme of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization was an important event in the
political life of our country. This programme attracts us
with the idea of cooperation and interaction in the
interests of common security. I welcome the accession of
the former members of the Warsaw Pact to this
programme. This fact gives hope to the whole of the
Eurasian continent for peaceful cooperation, thereby
ensuring security, progress and prosperity for all peoples,
and thereby eventually eliminating the possibility of the
emergence of new adversarial blocs. We hope that
participation in the NATO programme will enhance the
role of our country in the building of a new European
security structure.
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This year the Azerbaijan Republic was accorded the
status of Observer in the Non-Aligned Movement, a step
that provides us with a broad opportunity for the
establishment of bilateral contacts in various fields and for
the rapprochement of our positions with those of the States
members of the Movement.
The accession of the young Azerbaijani State to the
United Nations as a full Member in January 1992 marked
the most important stage in the development of our country.
The scope of our cooperation with many United Nations
international agencies has been expanding ever since.
We appreciate especially the cooperation we enjoy
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank. Concrete projects that are of great importance for
the socio-economic development of our country have been
elaborated as a result of the practical work of experts
representing these large financial institutions. We assume
that many possibilities exist for our fruitful cooperation
with international financial institutions. We understand the
prudence and concern demonstrated by the heads of the
IMF and the World Bank with regard to the war conditions
in which the Azerbaijani Republic has been engaged. At
the same time, however, the IMF has given a structural
adjustment loan to Armenia, which is in a state of war with
us. We consider that justice requires at least a balanced
approach in this matter.
We are expecting a great deal from the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) in the way of technical
assistance in the drawing up of national programmes for the
development of market economy infrastructures, and
assistance to enable our country make progress towards
modern management methods and the application of
advanced technologies.
We attach especial attention to international economic
cooperation, and it is with deep satisfaction that I should
like to inform you that on 20 September 1994, as a result
of long and difficult negotiations, the Azerbaijani Republic
signed a contract with a consortium of large international
oil companies for the joint development of the off-shore
oilfields for a 30-year term in the Azerbaijani sector of the
Caspian Sea.
This landmark economic endeavour testifies to our
policy of openness to the whole world, as well as to our
policy of liberalizing the economy and attracting foreign
investment. The signing of this unique contract will
promote the strengthening of cooperation and
rapprochement among the peoples and countries
participating in its implementation, that is, Azerbaijan, the
United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Turkey,
Norway and Saudi Arabia.
In mentioning this, I should like once again to
underline the fact that the Azerbaijani Republic is seeking
full-fledged integration into the world community and has
the full capacity to do so. For that reason the core of its
policy is the aspiration for peace, and we pin great hopes
on the United Nations in assisting us to achieve this
peace.
The Azerbaijani people have placed great confidence
in me in electing me President of a young, independent
State, and today it has been my privilege to convey to
you its deepest aspirations. I leave this lofty rostrum of
the General Assembly in the hope that the voice of my
people will be heard by the members of the Assembly
and that it will pave the way to their hearts.
The President (interpretation from French): On
behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the
President of the Azerbaijan Republic for the statement he
has just made.
Mr. Heydar Alirza ogly Aliyev, President of the
Azerbaijan Republic, was escorted from the General
Assembly Hall.
Agenda item 9 (continued)
General Debate
The President (interpretation from French): The
next speaker is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy,
His Excellency Mr. Antonio Martino.
Mr. Martino (Italy): Mr. President, I am delighted
to begin by congratulating you and your country, Côte
d’Ivoire, on your election as President of the General
Assembly at this session. I also wish to thank your
distinguished predecessor, Ambassador Insanally.
Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta on its admission to
Observer status in the General Assembly.
My statement fully endorses and follows on that of
the German Foreign Minister, who spoke in his capacity
as Chairman of the European Council.
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From the very beginning of its membership in the
United Nations Italy’s foreign policy has been guided by its
active support for the Organization’s principles and
functions. Our contributions to United Nations
deliberations, peace-keeping operations and aid through
multilateral channels are tangible proof of Italy’s faith in
the project drawn up at San Francisco almost 50 years ago.
Our newly elected Government will remain steadfast
in this approach to supporting the United Nations and
building upon the historic opportunities offered by the new
international situation. Let me emphasize that, now more
than ever, Italy is firmly committed to fostering personal,
political, and economic freedom, protecting individual rights
and liberties and enforcing the rule of law. These are the
preconditions for peace and prosperity and the reasons why
Italy is presenting its candidature to the Security Council
for the period 1995-1996.
Unfortunately, the hopes that were kindled by the end
of the cold war, with its promises of peace and stability,
have not been met in international reality. At the same
time, there is little doubt that today we are facing fewer
global risks, despite local conflicts, intolerance and racial
and ethnic strife. It is thus our task to embark on a new
age of cooperation, democracy and development, in which
the United Nations must play a central role. Today, the
General Assembly can become the link between
expectations and commitment.
Italy will continue to play its part in peace-keeping, as
it is already doing in eight different missions, including
logistical support for the operation in former Yugoslavia
and training centres and permanent bases for peace-keeping
forces on its territory. The new United Nations base in
Brindisi is particularly significant in this regard.
However, we cannot ignore the high costs of the
proliferation of primarily internal conflicts. The budget for
peace-keeping operations currently amounts to
approximately $3 billion, three times the regular budget of
the Organization. The Presidency of the European Union
has noted this particular aspect of peace-keeping operations.
We must strengthen preventive diplomacy in order to avoid
over-extending our capabilities, becoming ineffective and
risking financial collapse.
In the wake of the crisis in Rwanda, my Government
is promoting the establishment of a task force for rapid
intervention in humanitarian emergencies. This matter is
now being considered in the appropriate forums and the
results will be presented to the United Nations. I welcome
the support expressed for an emergency humanitarian
instrument by the Presidents of the United States, the
Russian Federation and Argentina, and believe that our
ideas and proposals follow the same orientation.
Entrusting peace-keeping functions to regional
organizations is another option for crisis management.
My Government has moved consistently in this direction
at the national level and in its capacity as
Chairman-in-Office of the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).
Italy attaches particular importance to an effective
and efficient functioning of the Security Council. The
matter of equitable representation on the Security Council
and of increasing its membership requires thorough
examination. To this end, Italy has submitted one of the
most realistic and comprehensive proposals to the Ad Hoc
Working Group. We hope that the General Assembly
will reach a consensus on the methods and timetable for
a truly equitable reform.
Many members question whether the pre-eminence
the Organization has given to peace-keeping in recent
years has not drained the other fundamental objectives of
the United Nations - namely, economic and social
development - of initiative and resources. The
Secretary-General has wisely acknowledged these
concerns in his recent agenda for development.
Mr. Seniloli (Fiji), Vice-President, took the Chair.
As that document states, peace is only one of the
dimensions of development. The others are the economy,
the environment, justice and democracy. To the extent
that democracy protects and promotes personal liberty and
economic freedom, it has a decisive impact on
development by encouraging the strongest force behind
economic growth and personal development - individual
creativity. A prosperous democracy will be free of the
internal tensions that have caused so many of today’s
conflicts. The United Nations will foster a more peaceful
world by promoting freedom and justice in addition to
continuing its peace-keeping functions.
In today’s world, the issue of trade is of paramount
importance. As I like to say, trade unites us; politics
divides us. At the Naples Summit, Italy, in its present
capacity as Chairman of the G-7, strongly advocated the
further dismantling of barriers to world trade in order to
foster the creation of wealth. We are convinced that the
leaders of the free world must avoid squandering the
unique opportunity for world peace and prosperity offered
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by current historic developments. They must resist the
pressure of interest groups and be ready to serve the
general interests of their nations and the nations of the
world, which today more than ever require the opening of
markets and the liberalization of trade. This will be the
role of the World Trade Organization.
In this spirit, we endorse the principles of the agenda
for development and are ready to help establish the
guidelines for their implementation. The fiftieth
anniversary of the United Nations Charter will provide an
opportunity for fostering such a process.
I should now like to address the United Nations
General Assembly in my capacity as Chairman-in-Office of
the CSCE. We are actively promoting peaceful solutions
to several regional crises. In the former Yugoslavia we are
engaged in restoring long-term missions, appointing
Ombudsmen for the Bosnian Federation, instituting a CSCE
mission in Sarajevo and admitting The Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia to the CSCE.
We have lent our good offices to Ukraine, where a
CSCE mission will be instituted, and to Georgia for the
crises in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The CSCE
Presidency has also worked towards facilitating the
withdrawal of Russian troops from the Baltic States and
finding a solution to the problems of citizenship and status
of non-citizens in that area. Through the local CSCE
missions, the CSCE Presidency is also attempting to foster
a political solution to the Moldova-Trans-Dniester and
Tajikistan crises, while it actively supports the efforts of the
Chairman of the Conference on Nagorny Karabakh,
Ambassador Eliasson.
At the 1992 Helsinki Summit the CSCE declared itself
to be a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the
United Nations Charter and adopted specific guidelines on
peace-keeping. The ministerial meetings in Stockholm and
Rome led to the United Nations-CSCE Framework
Agreement in March 1993 and to the CSCE’s being granted
observer status at the United Nations. My recent letter to
the Secretary-General on developing and strengthening
cooperation between the CSCE and the United Nations was
a follow-up to these decisions, as was the establishment of
relations between the CSCE and numerous United Nations
agencies working in areas of common concern. One
specific proposal is to attribute primary responsibility to the
CSCE for issues concerning stability and security in its
area, without impinging on the statutory powers of the
Security Council.
Peace-keeping is an area that requires closer
cooperation. The two Organizations should adopt a
standard set of principles for the peace-keeping activities
undertaken by individual States or third parties.
I should like to address the European Presidency’s
statement and memorandum on our current international
policies, limiting myself to those issues which more
closely concern Italy for historical and geographical
reasons.
Italy warmly welcomes the acceptance by the
Croatian-Muslim federation and the Serbian-Montenegran
federation of the peace plan submitted to them on 6 July.
That plan provides a realistic solution to territorial
disputes and constitutional issues and ensures that Bosnia
and Herzegovina will retain its international identity.
Unfortunately, the repeated rejection of the plan by the
Bosnian Serb leadership is a source of deep
disappointment. This has made tougher sanctions against
Pale inevitable in order to force it to reconsider its
position.
The partial lifting of sanctions against Belgrade,
which we have advocated from the beginning, will
encourage the Serbian Government to pursue its new,
more constructive policy. This includes the agreement to
allow international monitors to ensure the effective
sealing of the border between Serbia and Bosnia. In our
ongoing commitment to find a solution to the intractable
crisis in Bosnia, we have been trying to involve other
important international forums, starting with the G-7,
enlarged to include Russia, in joint efforts to foster a
political solution.
With regard to the Middle East, Italy welcomed the
signing of the Cairo Accords, concluded on 4 May, which
authorized the start of self-government in Gaza and
Jericho. We also salute the subsequent transfer to the
Palestinian authorities of jurisdiction over the issues
covered in the Washington Agreements. Italy is pleased
to have contributed to the resumption of negotiations that
led to the Cairo Accords, through our participation in the
international temporary presence in Hebron to implement
Security Council resolution 904 (1994). Italy reaffirms its
commitment to contributing politically and economically
to the reconstruction of the Palestinian territories. The
Israeli-Jordan Accords of 25 July represent a milestone in
the construction of a new Middle East on the basis of
peace and cooperation. We hope that all these
developments will stimulate progress in other negotiations
between Israel and its neighbours.
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In the Mediterranean basin, serious instabilities and
tensions are spreading. Italy intends to make its efforts to
ensure that this region sets an example of tolerance,
economic cooperation and democracy.
As one of the main architects of the peace process in
Mozambique, Italy is pleased with the progress achieved in
recent months. Elections are now set for 27 and 28
October this year. We will continue to collaborate with the
United Nations and other donor countries in the
reconstruction of Mozambique. We also hope that regional
cooperation in southern Africa will help improve economic
conditions in Mozambique, thereby strengthening the
process of peace and democratization. We hope that
Mozambique will become another United Nations success
story, like the peace-keeping operations in Namibia,
Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala and elsewhere.
We would also like to encourage the trends towards
re-establishing peace in Angola on the basis of the Peace
Accords and the pertinent Security Council resolutions.
An area that has seen great progress in recent years is
the further strengthening of disarmament and nonproliferation.
The implementation of existing agreements
is a difficult task for our diplomacies, but the drive towards
more advanced forms of disarmament and arms control is
relentless. We look forward confidently to negotiations to
ban nuclear testing and to halt the production of fissionable
material. Progress in this field should also contribute to the
indefinite and unconditional extension of the Non-
Proliferation Treaty.
With regard to conventional weapons, I wish to take
this opportunity formally to announce the terms of Italy’s
moratorium on the export of anti-personnel mines. The
moratorium will apply to all transfers and be applied until
new international regulations become effective. This
commitment imposes an economic cost, but one that my
country is willing to pay. We urge all Member States to
adopt similar national moratoriums until the international
regime has been finalized.
But let us not forget that conflicts, especially internal
ones, are also created through the violation of fundamental
human rights. That is why we are in favour of
strengthening the mechanisms to monitor and protect those
rights by fully implementing the High Commissioner’s
mandate and strengthening the Centre for Human Rights.
When these rights are seriously violated, despite all
efforts, we are in favour of recourse to a fair judicial
process. In the same spirit with which we welcomed and
contributed to the International Tribunal on crimes
committed in the former Yugoslavia, we support the
creation of an international criminal court for the
adjudication of all violations of human rights, wherever
they may occur. This court must be allowed to inflict the
appropriate punishment, with the exception of the death
penalty, which Italy has consistently opposed. We are
particularly pleased that, after years of hard work, the
International Law Commission has completed a draft
statute for the court, and look forward to contributing to
the Assembly’s debate on the matter.
The strengthening of international security is closely
related to the fight against terrorism and organized crime.
From 21 to 23 November this year, Italy will be hosting
in Naples the ministerial World Conference on Organized
Transnational Crime, under the auspices of the Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch of the United
Nations.
Italy is also actively participating in the preparation
of the World Summit for Social Development, to be held
in Copenhagen in March 1995, by contributing its
experience in the three crucial issues on the agenda:
combating poverty, unemployment and discrimination.
We live in an exciting but complex world. Few of
us would disagree with the comment of Alfonso the Wise,
King of Castile, a medieval patron of astronomy, who is
quoted as saying, in effect, "If the Lord Almighty had
consulted me before embarking on the Creation, I would
have recommended something simpler."
While rereading the first address Italy delivered to
this Assembly at the eleventh session, I was deeply
moved, and not only because it was given by my father.
Rereading it, it made poignantly clear the far-reaching
changes since 1956, both on the international scene -
from decolonization to the end of the cold war - and on
the Italian domestic political scene. In that address, he
defined the United Nations as
"the most complete expression of that education of
the human race, acquired, as Lessing said, through
suffering and error". (Official Records of the
General Assembly, Eleventh Session, Plenary
Meetings, 588th meeting, para. 94)
And today, so many years later, it is an honour for
me to reaffirm the same profound conviction and to
pledge to this Assembly the total dedication of Italy and
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
its Government to the ideals embodied in the United
Nations Charter.
Address by Mr. Efraín Goldenberg Schreiber, Prime
Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Peru
The President: The Assembly will now hear an
address by the Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Peru.
Mr. Efraín Goldenberg Schreiber, Prime Minister and
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru,
was escorted to the rostrum.
The President: I have great pleasure in welcoming
the Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Peru, His Excellency Mr. Efraín Goldenberg
Schreiber, and inviting him to address the General
Assembly.
Mr. Goldenberg Schreiber (Peru) (interpretation
from Spanish): I should like sincerely to congratulate Mr.
Essy on his election as president over the forty-ninth
session of the General Assembly. His country and mine
maintain friendly diplomatic relations and close links
strengthened by the historic ties between Africa and Latin
America. I wish him success in his endeavours and offer
him the fullest cooperation of the Peruvian delegation.
We live in an age that confronts the international
community as a whole, and the United Nations in
particular, with big challenges. Representative democracy
and the market economy have spread throughout the world,
along with an intensification of integration processes and
the globalization of trade.
Nevertheless, international peace and security have not
yet been consolidated in all regions. We have witnessed
events such as the unexpected collapse of States that had
seemed to be solid, episodes of massive violence within
some countries and the tragic and complex situations that
resulted, persistent aggression against a Member of this
Organization and the exacerbation of nationalism in many
parts of the world. All these things challenge the present
capacity of the United Nations to respond.
Faced with such challenges, the United Nations must
reaffirm its central role as the indispensable leader in the
maintenance of international peace and security and in the
promotion of world-wide development. This is its duty, not
only because of the universal character of the United
Nations system, but also because of the contractual
significance of the instrument by which it was established.
In this respect, we must bear in mind that the
potential of the United Nations as the foremost
international Organization can be reinforced by increased
and more efficient coordination with the regional
organizations.
By the same token, we attach special importance to
the General Assembly’s exercise of the powers assigned
to it by the Charter, as well as to the expansion and
reform of the Security Council. With regard to the latter,
we should seek to correct the imbalances in its present
composition, improve its decision-making machinery and
make its working methods more transparent, while
striving to make its composition truly representative of all
Member States of the Organization.
As the Secretary-General pointed out in his reports,
"An Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277) and "An Agenda for
Development" (A/48/935), it now appears to be politically
feasible to respond to the multiple requirements of
international peace and security while encouraging
cooperation in the social and economic field, because the
complementarity of these elements is such that without
economic development there can be no peace or security.
"An Agenda for Peace" must therefore be complemented
by an agenda for development. In this way the United
Nations could lead the international community, in
accordance with the purposes and principles of its
Charter, and integrate the actions of our Organization with
the work of the Bretton Woods institutions, and above all
the World Trade Organization.
In this regard, we share the concern of the Secretary-
General, who has warned that the subject of development
is in danger of vanishing from the United Nations agenda.
We must therefore emphasize that the grave problems
related to development must be included in our
Organization’s work and that developed and developing
countries must agree on the need to address, urgently and
adequately, critical situations such as dire poverty.
The coming World Summit for Social Development
offers us an opportunity that we must seize. Peru, which
took part in the early stages of the process that led to the
decision to convene that Summit, will contribute to it the
national programme for social development that the
Government of President Fujimori has been carrying out,
a programme that gives priority attention to the basic
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
services of health, education and the administration of
justice, particularly for the poorest.
In the same context, Peru believes that the internal
efforts of developing countries in the vital spheres of social
and economic advance must be matched by high-priority
multilateral and bilateral cooperation.
I must also observe that in most of our countries
social development also means stability. Therefore,
continuing democratization and modernization is largely
dependent on the assignment of high priority to this
inescapable challenge.
Along with the problems of development, the rapidly
evolving situation today presents us, as an international
Organization, with a number of particularly complex
subjects. Outstanding among them is the process of
reconciliation and peace in the Middle East, which will
have important effects on regional and world stability and
security, as well as on trade, regional cooperation and
disarmament. Peru supports this process, and believes that
resolutions adopted in the General Assembly must properly
reflect that reality and contribute to the maintenance of an
appropriate political climate to advance the negotiating
process.
We also welcome the new South Africa, which
embodies the fulfilment of the essential principles of the
Charter and which is a possible factor for regional stability.
It also provides an example of democratic change.
The tragic situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which
has made clear the serious limitations of multilateral
organizations, demands increased efforts by the
international community to ensure an early and lasting
peace.
I now wish to address a subject that we cannot ignore,
one that affects the international community as a whole and
that is particularly delicate for my own country: the drug
problem. Peru reiterates its resolve to continue to fight
illegal drug trafficking, as well as its conviction that this
serious problem urgently requires the unwavering political
commitment of the international community. That alone
will make it possible to adopt concrete and realistic
measures to stand up to this scourge in accordance with the
mandates of the Global Programme of Action adopted by
the General Assembly in 1990.
International coordination and cooperation against
drug-trafficking are indispensable. In that regard, I am
pleased to point out that the recent Summit of Presidents
of the member countries of the Rio Group accepted the
proposal of the President of the Republic of Peru, Alberto
Fujimori, to coordinate legislation to penalize moneylaundering,
allow the confiscation of property linked to
drug-trafficking, establish swift extradition procedures,
promote judicial and police cooperation on this matter and
bolster cooperation for alternative development.
My country also pays special attention to human
rights. Their promotion and defence constitute an
inescapable obligation of the international community,
which must therefore reinforce and improve current
mechanisms of the system for the protection of human
rights, in order to increase their efficacy.
We are pleased to note the growing recognition and
support by this international Organization for those
countries that, like us, are continuing to struggle to defend
life and civilized ways of coexistence against the
unjustifiable and irrational violence of terrorism. For us,
this means that the international community has made
progress, by recognizing that in countries such as Peru
terrorist groups are the primary, the true, violators of
human rights.
In the current context of renewal, we supported the
creation of the post of United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, in an effort to improve
United Nations measures to prevent and monitor
violations of human rights, whether the violators be
government agents or others. It is a matter of pride for
our region that a distinguished Latin American diplomat
is the first to fill this high office.
Within this chamber last year, the President of Peru
announced that the leader of the bloodiest terrorist
movement in the Western Hemisphere - caught as a result
of our successful campaign for national peace - had
acknowledged in writing the clear defeat of his totalitarian
aims and his bloodthirsty methods. Today I am pleased
to confirm that Peru is swiftly progressing towards
reconciliation and peace. The Peruvian strategy, which
involves the State and civil society, has borne fruit, as
evidenced by the mass desertions of terrorists as a result
of the "repentance law" passed on repentance and the
return of peaceful villagers to their homes, with the
support and backing of the State.
My country, having guaranteed democracy and
economic freedom, now has, after many years, excellent
prospects. We have established a new national
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environment by consistently applying economic, social and
pacification policies. The results prove that we have taken
the correct path, as shown by the growth in gross national
product - 7 per cent last year, and projected to be between
9 per cent and 10 per cent this year, figures which
constitute the highest growth rates in the hemisphere.
This new situation will allow us, for the first time in
decades, to give social issues the priority they deserve. The
economic policies followed in Peru have made possible a
social programme implemented through non-inflationary
investment, with our own resources. This programme has
the technical backing of international financial institutions
and is in line with the conceptual approaches on social
development promoted by the World Bank, the United
Nations Development Programme and a growing number of
non-governmental organizations that share a belief in
putting the human being at the core of development efforts.
To do otherwise would be to make sustainable long-term
growth impossible. This essential task for the whole of
Peruvian society requires the cooperation and support of the
international community.
My country’s contribution to change in the world has
been made possible by the efforts of our people, who have
enabled us to enjoy internal peace, security, stability and
economic growth. The path we are taking leads the most
tenacious nation in South America, a people of long-proven
creativity, on the threshold of a new millennium with the
enthusiasm, the ability and the necessary tools for its
development.
The President: On behalf of the General Assembly,
I wish to thank the Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Peru for the statement he has just
made.
Mr. Goldenberg Schreiber, Prime Minister and
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru,
was escorted from the rostrum.
The President: I now call on the Federal Minister for
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, His Excellency
Mr. Alois Mock.
Mr. Mock (Austria) (interpretation from French):
Allow me to congratulate the President sincerely on his
election to preside over the forty-ninth session of the
General Assembly. I am particularly pleased to see a
representative of a French-speaking African country occupy
this important position. We trust that the forty-ninth
session will, under his enlightened leadership, pay special
attention to the political, economic and social problems
facing his continent, so sorely tried over these last few
years.
Next year the United Nations will celebrate its
fiftieth anniversary with a series of activities throughout
the world. The image of the United Nations in the eyes
of world public opinion will depend largely on its status,
on the extent to which it has remained faithful, 50 years
after its founding, to the principles of the San Francisco
Charter, which are still valid.
I believe it must be a priority to strengthen the world
Organization in the spirit of Article 1 of the Charter, so
that it can effectively carry out its mission of maintaining
international peace and security. Let us also recall here
the words of the great philosopher, Sir Karl Popper,
recently deceased, who wrote: "Our primary objective
must be peace. But we must not hesitate to wage war for
peace." We have given the United Nations the
responsibility of deciding when to use force to preserve
peace. This weighty responsibility has to be exercised
when necessary.
The Security Council is of paramount importance in
preserving peace in the world. In order to maintain and
strengthen the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Security
Council, Austria advocates a slight increase in its
membership. Every Member of the United Nations must
be able to see and understand how views develop within
that body. They must all be able to feel sure that
discussions in the Council take account of the views of
interested countries, for example, countries contributing
troops for peace-keeping operations.
The importance of the United Nations must be
preserved and developed, not only as a system for the
maintenance of international peace and security, but also
as a forum for discussion and an instrument for
coordination at the global level. On the first point, much
remains to be done. In the social and economic sphere
and in the field of development, important progress has
been made, notably with the reform of the Economic and
Social Council, which has permitted better guidance of
operational activities for development.
A solid financial basis is absolutely vital to the
effective discharge of the United Nations mission. Nonpayment
or late payment of mandatory contributions by
Member States is a violation of the Charter and of the
duty of international solidarity. The burden thus created
falls, above all, on those Members that are called good
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
payers and those that provide troops, expenditures that are
reimbursed by the United Nations only after considerable
delay. This chronic problem, which is getting worse, can
be resolved only by timely and full payment of mandatory
contributions by all Member States. As one of the 20
countries that, in 1994, paid their full contribution in a
timely fashion to the regular budget of the United Nations,
and as a regular participant in peace-keeping operations,
Austria will, along with the Secretariat and other interested
delegations, seek a solution to this difficult problem.
On the eve of its fiftieth anniversary the United
Nations faces new challenges at the world level.
Sustainable development, the monitoring of world
population growth, the elimination of poverty, the creation
of opportunities for productive employment, social
integration, equality for women, better protection of human
rights, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons - all are major
themes of our era and have been or will be the subject of
international conferences. The task of the United Nations
is to draw the necessary conclusions from the results of
these conferences and to define the outlines of sustainable
human development at the world level. The Secretary-
General’s reports, "An Agenda for Peace" and "Agenda for
Development", are essential elements in a discussion that
has already led to a broader understanding of the idea of
security.
The protection and promotion of human rights is one
of the central tasks of the United Nations. The
accomplishment of this task has benefited from the vital
impetus provided by the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action. While we can be pleased with the
outcome of the World Conference on Human Rights, the
lasting impact of the final document of Vienna will none
the less be measured by the continuing will of the
community of nations to give effect to its provisions more
rapidly and to guarantee them more effectively than in the
past.
A crucial role is to be played in this connection by the
High Commissioner for Human Rights. Austria welcomes
the swift implementation of this central provision of the
Vienna document. In the few months that he has occupied
his post, Mr. José Ayala Lasso has fully lived up to the
expectations arising out of his difficult and important
mandate. His official visit to Vienna began a dialogue with
all Governments. It seems to us a matter of priority to
promote coordination of international protection of human
rights within the United Nations system, and in this the
High Commissioner will, of course, have a determining role
to play. We should also strengthen the various mechanisms
for protecting human rights, as well as the role of the
Special Rapporteurs. This should make it possible to
react more quickly to violations of human rights and to
prevent them more effectively. The resources needed for
the High Commissioner’s work should be provided as
soon as possible.
Effective protection of human rights is not only a
duty towards each individual; it is also an essential
contribution to ensuring stability, development and
security. History teaches us that we must resolutely
oppose all flagrant violations of human rights, such as
genocide in the Nazi concentration camps or by the
Khmer Rouge, as soon as they are brought to light. This
makes it all the more difficult to understand that the
resolution adopted by the United Nations Conference on
Human Rights relating to Bosnia and Herzegovina has
remained a dead letter, thereby jeopardizing the credibility
of our world Organization.
Mr. Choi Su Hon (Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea), Vice-President, took the Chair.
In this connection, I wish to pay a particular tribute
to Mr. Tadeusz Mazowiecki, former Prime Minister of
Poland and Special Rapporteur of the Commission on
Human Rights, for his excellent work, of which the world
community should be proud. I would also hail President
Izetbegovic´ of Bosnia and Herzegovina who, with great
self-discipline and in a very constructive spirit, has
accepted to speak with those who are committing a kind
of genocide against his people. This is remarkable
conduct from an extraordinary individual.
The effective protection of minorities involves great
difficulties in many countries. I am pleased to be able to
inform the Assembly that, in 1992, Austria and Italy were
able to resolve their dispute over the Southern Tyrol. The
dispute related to the implementation of the 1946 Treaty
of Paris on the situation of the German-speaking and
Ladino-speaking populations in Southern Tyrol. It was
also dealt with in General Assembly resolutions 1497
(XV) and 1661 (XVI), adopted at the fifteenth and
sixteenth sessions respectively.
The solution that was agreed to by both sides was to
establish relatively comprehensive autonomy in southern
Tyrol. This seemed on the whole to be an adequate basis
for ensuring the continued existence of the Germanspeaking
and Ladino minorities.
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Given the constant changes in the atmosphere -
particularly the economic and financial atmosphere - there
has to be a dynamic autonomy if its objective is to be
attained. This will require ongoing flexibility and
understanding on the part of the relevant authorities. A
solution to the minorities problem on the basis of territorial
autonomy must, over the long term, aim at ensuring that all
those who live together under the same roof view such
autonomy as a positive thing that protects their respective
interests.
The unanimous statements made by Prime Minister
Berlusconi, Foreign Minister Martino and Interior Minister
Maroni that they would not touch the autonomy of southern
Tyrol seem to us to be a guarantee that we shall continue
on the same road.
Austria is proud, as one of the headquarters countries
of the United Nations, to host a number of important
programmes that meet the immediate interests of the
individual and also have a decisive impact on international
relations. These include protection from drug abuse, the
struggle against crime, questions on the use and control of
nuclear power and on the preservation of the system for the
non-proliferation of nuclear weapons - all of these are
major activities of the United Nations at Vienna, as is
international cooperation on outer space and on the
promotion of international industrial development.
Following recent political changes, important new
areas for United Nations activities have emerged in Eastern
Europe and Central Asia. Vienna sees itself as an
important point for coordinating activities to support and
assist those States as they move towards democracy, a state
of law and a market economy.
On the eve of its fiftieth anniversary, the United
Nations currently has more than 70,000 people in 17
different peace-keeping operations. More than three times
the regular budget is being devoted to those operations.
Austria, which has been involved for decades in such
operations, is aware of the enormous challenge that this
poses to the United Nations and its Member States in terms
of funds, personnel and organization.
One of the most important events to take place within
the framework of the activities organized in Austria in
connection with the fiftieth anniversary will be the very
high-level conference set for early March 1995 in Vienna.
This conference will be devoted to the discussion, analysis
and preparation of recommendations on how best to take up
the challenge of measures to preserve peace on the eve of
the new millennium. I am particularly pleased and
grateful that the Secretary-General has been kind enough
to agree to deliver the opening address in Austria.
Austria is in favour of strengthening civilian peacekeeping
operations and of stepping up United Nations
activities in preventive diplomacy. Thus, the Austrian
Federal Government has established, in the city of
Schlaining, a centre for civilian peace-keeping operations.
This year, we held our second seminar on the reestablishment
of peace and on preventive diplomacy, a
seminar in which high officials of the United Nations
participated. Also in Schlaining, we have a regular
training programme, with international participation, for
civilian international operations relating to peace-keeping
and peace-building.
For a quarter of a century, the non-proliferation
Treaty has successfully prevented the proliferation of
nuclear weapons and has also successfully prevented the
abuse of nuclear power for military purposes. The 1995
Review Conference will take a decision on extending the
non-proliferation Treaty. Our common goal must be the
unconditional and unrestricted extension of the Treaty.
Austria also has good reason to hope that the substantive
negotiations currently under way in the Conference on
Disarmament with a view to the conclusion of a
comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty will lead to nuclear
disarmament.
As the host country of the International Atomic
Energy Agency, Austria is aware of the importance of
this control mechanism for the application of the Non-
Proliferation Treaty. The success of any future agreement
on a nuclear-test ban will, in the final analysis, depend on
the effectiveness of the work done by organizations
responsible for its implementation and verification.
A year ago, the Austrian Federal Government
decided to offer Vienna as headquarters for the future
organization to be established under the nuclear-test-ban
treaty, and I would wish to extend this invitation again
today before the General Assembly.
This year once again, our hopes of seeing an end to
the fighting in the territory of the former Yugoslavia have
been dashed. Despite international initiatives and peace
plans, the actual prospects for an equitable and lasting
solution are not very good. The reconciliation between
the Bosnian Croats and the Bosnians, which stemmed
from the Washington Agreements, should not make us
forget that the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina continues
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
to leave innumerable victims in its wake. The toll of dead
and displaced persons grows daily more terrible. The
aggressor has gone so far as to attack or lay siege to cities
that have been declared United Nations protected areas.
Despite repeated international condemnation, the
Serbian side has continued its practice of "ethnic
cleansing". Austria strongly condemns these crimes,
wherever and by whomever they may be perpetrated, and
we shall never stop calling for an end to such practices.
Basic principles of the international order continue to
be trampled underfoot and lose their credibility. Specific
resolutions such as those on military guarantees for
protected areas or return of refugees to their home, have not
yet been implemented. All international initiatives and
efforts for the repatriation of refugees have been made a
mockery by "ethnic cleansing", which continues to be
practised and, in the final analysis, continues to be tolerated
at the international level. The arms embargo imposed by
the Security Council in September 1991 has a unilateral
impact, to the detriment of those countries that have taken
over from the former Yugoslavia and that are threatened by
Serbian ambitions. And so we have arrived at a situation
where the legitimate Government of Bosnia and
Herzegovina is unable fully to exercise its right to
legitimate self-defence, while at the same time that State
cannot even benefit from adequate protection under the
system of collective security. On the other hand, we do not
see any attempt on the Serbian side to abandon the idea of
a Greater Serbia based on the illegal conquest of territories
by force. This can be seen from the fact that the peace
plans prepared by the European Union and the contact
group have still not been accepted by the Serbian side,
although on many points they do respond to their
aspirations.
In its resolution 943 (1994) of 23 September the
Security Council set forth the conditions for a suspension
of sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro). The Belgrade Government must
allow international observers to control the blockade against
the Bosnian Serbs. The observer Mission now being
established along the Serbo-Bosnian border is, as Austria
sees it, a step in the right direction but, and I stress the
point, it remains to be seen how effectively the Mission
will be able to carry out its task and whether credible
consequences will in fact be drawn from the conclusions
arrived at by the observers.
In Croatia also the situation remains largely
unchanged: contrary to the provisions of the 1992 Vance
plan which was approved by the Security Council, more
than one quarter of the country remains in the hands of
the rebel Serbs. So far there has been neither
demilitarization of these regions under the supervision of
the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) troops
nor has it yet been possible for the civilian population to
return. Recent protests show to what extent the situation
has become untenable for displaced persons within
Croatia.
Against the backdrop of the extremely harsh
judgements often pronounced on Croatia one must not
forget the very clear terms of the legal opinions of the
Badinter Commission in January 1992. From these texts
it is clear that, in principle, Croatia met all the conditions
set forth by the European Union for recognition of new
States in Eastern Europe. I realize that in some areas,
such as administration, practices vis-à-vis the minorities
and the media, improvements are still much to be desired.
But we should not measure Croatia by different and
harsher criteria than the criteria we use for other countries
in central and south-eastern Europe because we have
greater access to Croatia and because there are more
transparent structures there, and there is no other country
in Europe, apart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, that has
been subjected for years to a violent military attack with
which it has to cope under extremely difficult conditions.
The situation in Kosovo, which has been too
neglected because of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
is continuing to deteriorate. The Belgrade authorities
have pursued their systematic action against the Albanian
majority of the population. There is still a danger that
mass violence may erupt. Observer missions sent by the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
(CSCE) which were expelled in 1993 have not been
authorized to return despite intensive international efforts
to that end. In that region, which is almost 90 per cent
inhabited by Albanians and has been fully autonomous
during the past couple of decades, we are witnessing the
exercise of a kind of power that is tantamount to that of
an occupying regime.
The situation in former Yugoslavia shows that what
the great French philosopher, Blaise Pascal, said in his
Pensées remains as true as ever. He said that justice
without force was powerless and that force without justice
was tyrannical. The collective security system of the
United Nations which is part of the post-war order, has
not really been applied by the international community in
the case of the conflict in former Yugoslavia. The hope
that the collective security system would be used as an
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
instrument of peace following its successful use after the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait has proved disappointing.
Unfortunately, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not an
isolated case. It would be a serious mistake not to mention,
at least, some other tragedies - Rwanda, Angola,
Afghanistan, Haiti, Tajikistan, and so on. There is too long
a list of hotbeds of crisis and violence, where the law of the
strongest tramples underfoot the principles of the Charter of
San Francisco. At the same time we must draw strength
and optimism from some positive developments, historic in
their significance. I may mention, for example, free and
democratic elections in South Africa, an end to the policy
of apartheid, autonomy in Gaza and Jericho, and an end to
the state of war between Jordan and Israel. In South Africa
and in the Middle East age-old objectives of the United
Nations have finally been attained or are about to be
attained. Austria, in so far as it can, actively supports these
peaceful processes, not only in the interests of the peoples
concerned but also in the interests of greater hope of
resolving other similar problems.
The year 1994 is of historic significance to Austria.
A huge majority - 66.58 per cent - of the Austrian people
came out firmly in support of joining the European Union,
a community of States that holds the same values as, and
plays an increasingly important role in, the United Nations.
This was the largest support in a European State for the
idea of European integration.
With that democratic force we will continue to support
this goal, and - as of 1 January I hope - as a member of
this community we will contribute in a spirit of solidarity
and openness to the attainment of the objectives of the
United Nations as we have done in the past.
The President (interpretation from French): I now
call on the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Oman,
His Excellency Mr. Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah.
Mr. Abdullah (Oman) (interpretation from Arabic):
Mr. President, please allow me at the outset to congratulate
you on your assumption of the Presidency of the forty-ninth
session of the General Assembly. Your unanimous election
to this high office attests to the respect accorded by the
international community to your friendly country, Côte
d’Ivoire. We are confident, in view of your qualifications
credentials and diplomatic skills, that you will steer the
work of this session to a successful conclusion which will
further the noble causes and principles of the United
Nations, which are aimed at bringing peace and prosperity
to the world. I would like to assure you of my delegation’s
cooperation with your endeavours to achieve this common
goal.
I should like also to take this opportunity to express
our appreciation to His Excellency Samuel R. Insanally,
the Permanent Representative of the friendly country of
Guyana, for the exemplary manner in which he presided
over the work of the previous session of the General
Assembly. Furthermore, on behalf of the Government of
the Sultanate of Oman, I should like to pay special tribute
to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his dedicated and
continued efforts aimed at resolving complicated conflicts
by peaceful means.
This forty-ninth session is being held amid
increasing prospects for and optimism about the creation
of a world in which atmosphere of peace, interdependence
and peaceful settlement of disputes will prevail. Our
Arab region is currently witnessing radical and important
changes where hatred and animosities between the Arabs
and Israel are slowly vanishing and giving place to a new
climate of understanding, dialogue and coexistence.
We are totally convinced that there is no alternative
means by which the Arabs and Israel may resolve their
differences other than negotiation. While some promising
and positive results have been achieved, we are still at the
beginning of a long process and we have a long way to
go towards resolving deep-seated differences. We
therefore appeal to the international community to
continue to lend its support to the efforts aimed at
bringing peace and security to the region.
In South Africa, my country has participated with
many other countries of the world in the inauguration
ceremony of President Nelson Mandela. That historic
event could not have taken place were it not for the
courageous policies of both President Mandela and Vice
President de Klerk in their approach to power-sharing
based on equality.
Thanks to the positive steps taken and the wise
policies pursued by President Mandela in forming a
National Coalition government that embraces various
political parties, South Africa has been able to resume its
rightful place in this Assembly, and can now play its
natural role in regional and international forums.
In Mozambique, the peace process is making
significant progress. Moreover, we are witnessing an
increasing normalization of relations amongst Asian
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
countries. We also witness more integration and
interdependence in the economic relations in Europe and in
North America. And last but not least, we note with
satisfaction the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Latin
America and the unprecedented tendency of its peoples to
opt for peace, development, and social and economic
betterment in their countries.
We have to cover a lot of ground before we achieve
the building of the world envisaged by the Charter of this
Organization. The prevailing climate of concord affords us
an opportunity to enable this Organization to face up to the
challenges and unresolved problems and to address such
problems in the light of the new realities.
My country views with satisfaction the steps that have
been achieved so far on the Palestinian-lsraeli track. We
have always called for a just, lasting and peaceful solution
to the situation between the Arabs and Israel through direct
negotiations. Therefore, my country has welcomed the
outcome of the Palestinian-lsraeli negotiations which
culminated in the signing of the Cairo Agreement on the
implementation of self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
This Agreement is now being implemented, the Palestinian
Authority is now a concrete reality and is exercising its
different functions in such areas as education, health,
taxation, tourism and social affairs. There are other
functions stipulated in the Agreement which, we hope, will
be exercised at the earliest possible time, by the Palestinian
Authority. The expansion of the competence of the
Palestinian Authority to other Palestinian areas in the West
Bank will undoubtedly strengthen the peace process and
contribute positively to security and stability in the area.
Such significant steps could never have been achieved
had not the Palestinian Liberation Organization honoured its
obligations under the Declaration of Principles signed in
Washington and under the Cairo Agreement. In order to
achieve peace and enable the Palestinian people to take
advantage and reap the benefits of the vigorous efforts
exerted in this context, the international community should
extend the necessary assistance to the Palestinian Authority
so that it may be able to discharge its many responsibilities
and rebuild the infrastructure, which has been severely
damaged. Support for the Authority will not only serve the
cause of security and stability in the self-rule areas alone
but in the region of the Middle East in its entirety.
The desired just and lasting peace will prevail only
through complete withdrawal by Israel from the entirety of
the occupied Arab territories, in accordance with Security
Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and
425 (1978), and in application of the land-for-peace
principle.
My country has followed with interest another
significant step in the peace process, namely that on the
Jordan-lsraeli track, which was highlighted by the signing
by His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan and the Israeli
Prime Minister of a declaration that ends the state of war
between the two countries and masks the movement
towards the establishment of a comprehensive peace. My
country has supported these positive and important steps.
Mindful of the fact that comprehensive peace is an
aspiration of the present and future generations, we
emphasize the critical importance of a complete Israeli
withdrawal from the occupied Jordanian territories. We
believe that it is crucial for Israel to demonstrate the
necessary flexibility to reach an agreement on the
question of water in order for both countries to move
forward towards the long-awaited lasting peace.
We look forward to similar positive and important
steps in the peace process on both the Syrian-Israeli and
Lebanese-Israeli tracks. We are confident that the cosponsors
of the Middle East peace process as well as the
parties concerned are fully aware of the fact that unless
significant and substantive progress is made on those two
tracks, the peace process will remain incomplete and will
make the region’s peoples prey to suspicions, mistrust and
instability. Therefore, efforts must be made in the
coming phase, to achieve concrete progress in this
direction. Israel must declare its readiness to withdraw
completely from the Syrian Golan Heights and from the
Lebanese territories it now occupies. We are confident
that if Israel were to take such an undoubtedly positive
step in the peace process, the peoples of the Middle East
would be able to work together towards the consolidation
of peace and the promotion of economic development on
a large scale in the region.
Mindful of the need to support the peace process and
given the awareness that national and regional security are
inseparable, the Sultanate of Oman has actively
participated in the meetings of the five working groups
emanating from the multilateral negotiations. Although
the latter are no substitute for bilateral negotiations, they
constitute a significant tributary that has the potential of
giving a rather significant boost to the process in the
direction of the desired just and comprehensive peace in
the Middle East.
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
Given the pivotal importance of water resources for
the future security and peace of the Middle East, the
Sultanate of Oman accords a very high priority to the
discovery and development of new water resources side by
side with the promotion of sea-water desalination
technology in order to make such technology more cost
effective. Within the framework of multilateral negotiations
in the Middle East, my country hosted the fifth meeting of
the Working Group on Water Resources held from 17 to 20
April 1994. The meeting resulted, inter alia, in the
endorsement of the Omani proposal to establish in Muscat,
the Omani capital, a regional centre for the research aimed
at the development of desalination technology.
Given the great significance we attach to the
establishment of that centre, as it will have a decidedly
positive impact on the economic development of the States
of the Middle East, we look forward to the cooperation of
all in this regard in order to make the transfer of waterresources
technology cost effective to the region so as to
help in raising the standards of social and economic
development and, thereby, in consolidating the peace and
stability of the region.
We in the Gulf region are committed to the
achievement of the highest level of stability, cooperation
and development in all our countries and to the
development of our multilateral and bilateral relations. This
naturally embraces the settlement of all bilateral differences.
Consequently, we view with satisfaction the agreement
between the State of Bahrain and the State of Qatar to have
recourse to the International Court of Justice with regard to
their differences over the disputed islands and the maritime
borders. We also hope that the Islamic Republic of Iran
and the United Arab Emirates would settle their differences
regarding the islands of Abu Moussa, the Greater Tumb and
the Lesser Tumb as soon as possible, in an amicable and
peaceful fashion. This could include having recourse to
international arbitration in view of the mutual interests the
two countries share in various spheres. There is no doubt
that such regional efforts will contribute to the
consolidation of regional security and serve the cause of
international peace.
We have noted recently that there has been
considerable progress in Iraq’s implementation of the
resolutions relating to the destruction of weapons of mass
destruction, particularly the agreement on the installation of
a long-term monitoring system, which should now be put
into effect for a suitable period. In the meantime, the
Security Council should proceed to make the necessary
contacts with both Iraq and Kuwait to implement its
resolution 833 (1993) regarding the demarcation of
international borders between the two countries through
the acceptance and legal ratification by the parties in
accordance with established international norms and
practices in matters relating to international borders.
We believe that it is an opportune time to take more
positive steps to enable Iraq to perform its regional and
international role in a peaceful context and to help the
brotherly Iraqi people to put behind it the years of
embargo and to make up for what it has lost in terms of
social and economic development.
The future of the region should be based on the
conviction that it is imperative for States to develop and
further their relations and to overcome their outstanding
differences in a manner that safeguards the interests of all
parties.
The interdependent nature of today’s world makes it
impossible for States to pursue an individualistic approach
that disregards the interests of others. We therefore
believe that the peaceful conduct of relations and the
pursuit of constructive political dialogue are the best
guarantees for present and future security and stability in
the region.
We aspire after a more stable, more developed world
that would be totally free from ethnic and regional
conflicts, a world that would be able to ensure the
progress of mankind towards a better way of life by
channelling the disposable economic resources to the
financing of scientific research which may benefit social
and economic development. While we are fully aware of
the fact that the international community has made real
progress in changing to the better in many important
areas, it is nevertheless regrettable that there remain many
factors which make other parts of the world prey to
political, ethnic and regional conflicts. It is now
abundantly clear that the United Nations is losing its
ability to address all these crises. While we sympathize
with the sufferings of many peoples that are victims of
such crises, we believe it is high time the international
community set up a new and unambiguous rule that
should be followed in dealing with such problems. It is
evident that the present mechanisms available to the
United Nations and other international organizations are
no longer able to perform their humanitarian role. It is
not possible for the United Nations to go on feeding
whole peoples indefinitely, and it is, therefore, high time
for the leaders of countries immersed in such tensions and
conflicts to realize that the United Nations will not be
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
responsible for their actions towards their peoples, and that
the States of the international community are no longer able
to rebuild for them what they themselves have destroyed.
Funds should not be made available to rebuild countries
which destroy their own infrastructures with their own
hands. All peoples should contribute effectively to the
development of the world economy rather than be a burden
on it.
The United Nations cannot play a peace-keeping role
in each and every conflict that erupts in the world. Peacekeeping
forces should not be dragged into regional conflicts
except to the extent to which regional organizations and
States are willing to shoulder their full responsibility in this
regard. If deemed necessary, this should take place only
following the consent of the parties to conflict and on the
basis of clear goals and mandates linked to a definite timeframe.
Regional organizations have a vital role to play in the
resolution of the disputes that exist in many parts of the
world. Although that role parallels and is complementary
to the efforts of the United Nations, we have noted that,
regardless of how important and necessary it is, it is almost
non-existent in the political arena. While we value the
efforts of the peace-keeping forces in Somalia, we believe
it would have been possible to avoid the negative aspects
that became evident in that operation had full use been
made of the Organization of African Unity, the competent
regional organization qualified to bring about national
reconciliation and the establishment of national authority.
The United Nations could have lent a helping hand by
providing expertise and advice, as well as political,
financial and humanitarian support.
Regional arrangements, whether in Asia, Africa or in
any other continent, in no way detract from the role of the
Security Council as the principal body responsible for the
maintenance of international peace and security. Rather,
such regional arrangements could help lighten the Council’s
workload and instil a sense of partnership and a spirit of
caring into international affairs.
As the possibility of the failure of some peace-keeping
operations cannot be ruled out, it is necessary to face the
facts and to draw object lessons from them if the United
Nations is to avoid sliding into the repetition of the same
mistakes.
Tragic events are taking place in Rwanda as a result
of the continuing political and ethnic strife that has led to
the outbreak of violence, to the horrendous massacres,
which claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives,
and to the destruction of the infrastructure of that
country’s economy. Great numbers of Rwanda’s people
are now living in refugee camps in neighbouring countries
under unimaginably tragic circumstances. Hunger and
disease claim the lives of hundreds daily. In view of this
horrendous suffering, my country calls upon the
Rwandese parties to stop the bloodshed and work towards
national reconciliation in accordance with the Arusha
Peace Agreement so that peace and stability may be
restored in Rwanda.
The mediation efforts undertaken so far to bring
about peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina have proven to be
insufficient, due mainly to the imbalance of power
between the Bosnian parties. The main cause of
imbalance in this regard is the denial to the people of
Bosnia and Herzegovina of their right to fight for their
existence through the imposition of a comprehensive arms
embargo on that small State, in total disregard of its right
of self-defence enshrined in Article 51 of the United
Nations Charter. The arms embargo should be imposed
on the aggressor. And who is the aggressor in the
Bosnian case? All the facts available to the United
Nations and its agencies regarding the situation in
Sarajevo and in other Bosnian cities prove that the Serbs
are the aggressors, and in the most inhuman terms.
While my country welcomes the structural reforms
undertaken with a view to ensuring the optimum
utilization of the resources available to the United Nations
with the greatest degree of efficiency and flexibility, it
feels that the ability of the Organization to discharge its
duties and perform its role depends to a very large extent
on the willingness of the Member States to live up to one
of the main responsibilities of membership - the prompt
payment of their financial contributions, including their
prompt contribution to peace-keeping operations.
As we approach the second summit meeting of the
Security Council, we ought to accord due attention to the
issue of the expansion of the Council’s membership in
accordance with the different trends prevailing in the
world, while constantly preserving the principle of
equitable geographic balance without prejudice to the
level of decision-making in the Council. We therefore
subscribe to the view that no hasty decision should be
taken in this respect and that more time should be given
to the regional groups to expound their views in this
regard.
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
My country has noted with satisfaction the successful
conclusion of the Uruguay Round and the long-range
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1994 and the
establishment of the World Trade Organization. This has
helped prevent the world economic order’s turning into a
hotbed of tension and strife between the various regions.
However, my country and the developing countries in
general, some of which have acceded to those agreements
or are in the process of so doing, request that their
particular circumstances be taken into consideration when
implementing the new agreements.
It is expected that our developing countries will have
to make sacrifices in order to support the world economic
order arising out of the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade, particularly in the short and medium terms.
Therefore, we hope to find support from the new World
Trade Organization that would be proportionate to what we
have to offer. We are particularly interested in the
developmental aspect of these agreements, as we are
interested in strengthening and developing the service sector
in our countries through the assistance offered by the
advanced economies and the international organizations.
In the area of disarmament, we hope that the
international support to the Convention on the Prohibition
of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of
Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction will give
impetus to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to
draft a comprehensive test-ban treaty that would be an
important step towards ridding the world of nuclear terror.
In this context, we support the efforts aimed at establishing
nuclear-weapon-free zones, particularly in the Middle East,
which is one of the world’s most sensitive regions.
At present, thanks to the prevailing spirit of concord
and the ending of the cold war between the East and West,
we witness a robust movement towards the consolidation of
peace and security. The world is beginning to realize that
a climate of concord and harmony is the most viable means
of establishing an international community characterized by
constructive cooperation and mutual benefit, and that such
a development will be in the interest of mankind and its
well-being.
Today, on the threshold of the fiftieth anniversary of
the founding of the United Nations, we hope that the
outcome of this session will be more compatible with the
principle of international partnership and solidarity so that
humanity may be able to lessen and cure the ailments that
sill undermine the twentieth century and thus ensure that
the twenty-first century will be a century of hope, peace
and security for all human beings wherever they may be
on the face of the Earth.
The President (interpretation from French): The
next speaker is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of
Bulgaria, His Excellency Mr. Stanislav Daskalov, on
whom I now call.
Mr. Daskalov (Bulgaria): Let me, on behalf of the
Bulgarian delegation, congratulate Mr. Amara Essy on his
election to the presidency of the forty-ninth session of the
General Assembly. I should also like to extend my
appreciation to his predecessor, Ambassador Samuel
Insanally, for his proficiency in presiding over the
forty-eighth session.
Diverse, often conflicting trends and events
characterize the present year, which has marked the end
of apartheid in South Africa, a significant breakthrough in
the Middle East peace process and steps towards a
settlement of the problems in Northern Ireland. We have
also witnessed, however, the incredible human tragedy in
Rwanda and the continuing bloodshed in Bosnia. New
hotbeds of tension have emerged in some parts of the
world.
What are, in our view, the parameters of the political
situation in the world, and Europe in particular? Efforts
to build a new world based on the idea of developing the
collective security system envisaged in the United Nations
Charter have received additional impetus. Universal
standards for human rights and international mechanisms
for safeguarding them are being devised. The problems
of population, poverty and the global ecosystem are being
addressed with increasing attention. A concept for
renewed cooperation for development is being considered
in which peace, the economy, the environment, social
justice and democracy are viewed as aspects of the same
movement towards a better world.
At the same time, the elimination of the
contradictions between the East and the West has been
followed by destabilization - temporary, we hope - in
some regions of the world. Acts of aggressive
nationalism and xenophobia, of violence and terrorism,
are becoming more frequent. The numerous conflicts
based on national, ethnic and religious intolerance are
difficult to manage. Among other things, this has
disturbed the balance between the efforts to maintain
international security and the activities in the social and
economic sphere, against a background of spreading
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
hunger and poverty and the aggravation of economic and
environmental problems.
These global problems have left their mark on
relations in Europe as in other places. On one hand, new,
historic possibilities for wide cooperation between all
European States have opened up in the process of
promoting a common European identity. On the other
hand, new, as well as reawakened, national interests and
policies are taking shape, and these are interacting with and,
at the same time, counteracting the integration processes.
The end of the ideological and military confrontation
on the old continent has not yet led to the removal of all
barriers. Europe is still divided into zones that differ in
terms of security and economic welfare. It is desirable that
this division be overcome, as the problems of the zones
with less security could be transferred to those with greater
security.
The global political dimension of the ongoing
transition to democracy and a market economy in Central
and Eastern Europe has been largely recognized. Despite
the serious decline in living standards and rising
unemployment, the Bulgarian people voted for transition.
The process of market-orientated reform that started about
five years ago is irreversible. Our association with the
European Union is a manifestation of the European
orientation of my country’s policy and an expression of the
political will to adhere to the universal values of
democracy. We are adapting our economic, social and
trade mechanisms to those of the European democracies
and are actively participating in political dialogue with the
European Union. Though slower than we anticipated, the
economic reforms in Bulgaria are moving ahead.
As a participant in the Partnership for Peace initiative
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and as a State
with associate status in the Western European Union,
Bulgaria will contribute to the improvement of cooperation
between the Euro-Atlantic and European security
institutions and the relevant United Nations structures.
On the eve of the session of the Conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in Budapest
later this year, Bulgaria is confident that the high-level
representatives of European countries will come up with
new ideas to improve the functions of the CSCE, including
cooperation with United Nations.
The Council of Europe - one of the oldest of the
international organizations in Europe - has won recognition
as an organization capable of responding adequately and
in a timely manner to the challenges of our time by
promoting pluralistic democracy, the rule of law and
respect for human rights.
As Bulgaria currently holds the chairmanship of the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, I
should like to refer briefly to this body, which already
comprises 32 members. Nine States have joined since
1989, and nine others are involved in a process of
accession. Cooperation between the Council of Europe
and United Nations institutions and between the Council
and some of the specialized agencies has been developed
over many years and has produced concrete results. This
cooperation has now become triangular - combining the
efforts of the Council of Europe, of the CSCE and of the
United Nations. In addition, there is a developing
partnership with the European Union.
In this complex and interdependent environment the
United Nations must increase its capacity to confront the
new challenges if it is to be effective in peace-making
and in the development of social and economic
cooperation between countries. In this context, important
views and concepts are contained in the
Secretary-General’s report "An Agenda for Peace", in his
report on new dimensions of arms regulation and
disarmament and in his agenda for development.
Bulgaria values highly the role of the United Nations
in solving problems directly related to the strengthening
of regional and international security. We support a
peaceful and equitable solution of the conflicts in the
Caucasus region, the Caribbean, Africa and other places.
We are particularly concerned about the conflict in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has become one of the
most serious challenges facing European States and
institutions, the entire civilized world and the international
organizations. We call for an immediate end to the war
and the suffering of the population. A political solution
in Bosnia and Herzegovina must be based on respect for
the interests of all parties. There must be compromise
and realism on all sides. In our view, concerted action by
the participants in the Contact Group is the second
prerequisite for the achievement of a lasting and just
solution to the conflict.
Let me once again reaffirm the position of Bulgaria
on the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. My country will
not participate, directly or indirectly, in any military
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
activities on the territory of the former Yugoslavia - not
even under the flag of the United Nations - and we call
upon the other Balkan States to do likewise. "Restraint"
should be the key word for the Balkan region. Bulgaria
will continue to pursue a constructive and balanced policy
and will not take part in any one or other grouping of
Balkan countries. Thus it will maintain its stabilizing role
in the region.
Bulgaria subscribes to the view that in the current
circumstances it would not be appropriate to lift the arms
embargo against Bosnia and Herzegovina. This, in our
view, would make the conflict even more uncontrollable.
We welcome the adoption of Security Council
resolutions 941 (1994), 942 (1994) and 943 (1994), which
reflect in a balanced way the current developments in the
region. We hope that the easing of the sanctions against
Serbia and Montenegro will be followed by the adoption of
a responsible policy by the party concerned, thus leading to
further normalization of the situation in the region. We
appeal to the leadership of the Bosnian Serbs to accept the
proposed peace settlement and to act in accordance with the
norms of civilized behaviour.
The crisis in the former Yugoslavia is directly related
to yet another important problem - that of equitable burdensharing,
not only in implementing the sanctions imposed by
the Security Council but also in overcoming their adverse
effect on the economies of third countries. The decision to
abide strictly by the sanctions has not been an easy one for
us. We joined in the sanctions against Serbia and
Montenegro - sanctions mandated by the United Nations -
in the conviction that they are one of the peaceful means by
which the international community can contribute to a
solution of the conflict. The sanctions have, however,
caused significant direct and indirect losses to my country.
On three occasions since 1991 - as a result of the sanctions
against Iraq, Libya, and Serbia and Montenegro - Bulgaria
has requested consultations with the Security Council
regarding its special economic problems. Let me point out
that the adverse effects of the sanctions have came at a
time of major economic transformation. They distort trade
seriously and hence have a significant negative impact on
the economy, affecting primarily the emerging private
sector.
Mr. Blandino Canto (Dominican Republic), Vice-
President, took the Chair.
At a time of reorientation of foreign trade within our
European integration policy, the implementation of the
sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro) has cut off our normal trade
routes to European markets. The lack of adequate
alternative transport corridors makes our export activity
much less competitive and sometimes even impossible.
The sanctions are far from being the only source of
our problems and difficulties, but they definitely have a
considerable negative impact on the overall political,
economic, security and social situation in my country. I
would say that the burden of the sanctions exceeds the
point of reasonable economic and social tolerance in
Bulgaria, given the lack of adequate financial, economic
and trade assistance. Urgent measures are imperative to
overcome all those negative effects. Bulgaria would
welcome a more active involvement of international
institutions and the developed countries in, for example,
financing projects for improving the transport
infrastructure of the country as part of the alternative
road, railroad and communication links in Europe.
Another measure could be the provision of better market
access for Bulgarian goods and services. We also hope
that the sanctions Committee established under resolution
724 (1991) will give favourable and timely consideration
to the applications submitted by Bulgarian companies,
especially those for providing humanitarian aid to the
Bulgarian minority in eastern Serbia, whose situation is of
primary concern to us.
The United Nations has shown considerable
understanding of our difficulties and has given us moral
support. I would like to recall the adoption by consensus
of General Assembly resolution 48/210, initiated by
Bulgaria and sponsored by a number of countries. We
now look forward to constructive discussions on the
Secretary-General’s report on this resolution. This should
lead to the General Assembly’s adoption of further
recommendations for practical steps aimed at assisting
third countries in alleviating their special economic
problems.
Bulgaria is of the view that in the process of
restructuring the United Nations account should be taken
of the new political and economic realities of the world,
as well as the specific problems of countries in transition
to a market economy and of small States, while at the
same time observing the principles of international law
and equality set forth in the United Nations Charter.
The improvement of interaction between the General
Assembly, the Security Council and the
Secretary-General, as well as the restructuring of the
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major United Nations bodies in the social and economic
sphere, will contribute to reinforcing the role of the United
Nations in the pursuit of the necessary balance between
preventive diplomacy, promotion of sustainable
development and protection of human rights.
Bulgaria is following with great interest the ongoing
discussion on the question of equitable representation on the
Security Council and increasing its membership while
preserving its effectiveness. Our country is ready to
participate actively in the search for consensus decisions.
We believe that the Security Council’s work would be
much more effective if, in the decision-making process on
regional issues, the positions of neighbouring countries and
States concerned, as well as those of the respective regional
organizations, were taken into consideration. This is
particularly important in cases where the Security Council
considers the imposition of economic sanctions. It would
be useful to prepare and examine in advance a complex
evaluation of the negative effects sanctions would have on
the economies of neighbouring countries.
There is also a need for greater transparency in the
activities of the sanctions Committees. We therefore
suggest that their meetings should be open to interested
States. The respective Chairmen could also conduct
briefings after each meeting to inform the States of the
decisions taken.
The States willing to provide contingents for
peace-keeping operations should also be involved in the
Security Council deliberations regarding these operations.
In addition, the recently established practice of holding
regular meetings of the heads of current operations, the
member States of the Security Council and representatives
of other interested States should be institutionalized,
especially in cases where the Security Council considers the
mandate, composition and nationality of the contingents
involved in a particular peace-keeping operation.
Bulgaria supports the efforts of the international
community aimed at preventing the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and at their elimination. At
the forthcoming Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT) review and extension conference, we will
advocate an indefinite and unconditional extension of the
Treaty. We are also happy to announce that this year
Bulgaria ratified the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of
the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of
Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. The
Republic of Bulgaria will continue to support regional and
global initiatives on conventional disarmament and arms
control.
In today’s world, peace and security, democracy and
sustainable development are inseparable. We therefore
support the strengthening of the United Nations role in
the social and economic field.
The further liberalization of world trade is an
important factor in development. The successful
conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade
negotiations provides favourable prospects for wide
liberalization and stable growth of world trade. The
World Trade Organization will be of paramount
importance for the efficient functioning of the global trade
system for the benefit of all countries. We expect that
Bulgaria will be able to finalize its negotiations on
accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT), including the results of the Uruguay Round,
within a time-frame that will allow us to become a charter
member of the World Trade Organization.
Bulgaria is interested in taking all possible measures
aimed at achieving economic stability through sustainable
development. Regional cooperation has a considerable
role in this regard. We hope that the Conference of
Ministers of the Environment of the European countries,
which is to take place in 1995 in Sofia, will contribute to
reinforcing the positive trends in the solution of regional
environmental problems.
The promotion and protection of human rights and
cooperation in the humanitarian field has an especially
important place in Bulgaria’s domestic and foreign policy.
We support the strengthening and promotion of the
United Nations monitoring mechanisms in the field of
human rights, the establishment of the post of United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the
increased public awareness regarding human rights in all
parts of the world and the activities of the
non-governmental organizations. The World Summit on
Social Development in Copenhagen and the Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing are expected to give a
major impetus to the development and protection of
human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Next year we will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary
of the United Nations. We await it with a sense of
responsibility and hope. I am confident that the efforts of
the international community to build a new world security
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
system based on the effective maintenance of world peace
and stability, respect for human rights and promotion of the
market-economy principles and of universal democratic
values will dominate the future of the world Organization.
Bulgaria is prepared to contribute to the achievement of
these goals.
The President (interpretation from Spanish): I now
call on the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Foreign Trade and Cooperation of Luxembourg,
His Excellency Mr. Jacques Poos.
Mr. Poos (Luxembourg) (interpretation from French):
Allow me to express my deep pleasure at Mr. Amara
Essy’s election to preside over the General Assembly this
year. This is a well-deserved tribute to your country, Côte
d’Ivoire, which is held in high esteem by the international
community.
My distinguished German colleague, Mr. Klaus
Kinkel, speaking on behalf of the European Union,
indicated the role it intends to play in international relations
and described its positions on the major political questions.
These positions are fully shared by my country.
Consequently I will limit my remarks to certain points
pertaining to the functioning of our Organization.
Over the past few years, we have lived through the
end of the cold war and far-reaching upheavals in the
international arena. These changes have had important and
lasting effects on many people, on the populations of many
States that lived under authoritarian forms of government
and have now conquered the freedom to exercise their
fundamental rights; on peoples freed of the constraints
imposed upon them by the competition between the two
super-Powers, which enabled dictatorial and repressive
regimes to act with full impunity; and, finally, on the
international community as a whole, which is no longer
forced to live with the fear of nuclear conflagration
throughout the planet.
Democracy has made a historic breakthrough. It will
be restored in Haiti. In the Middle East the peace process
is making progress. In South Africa apartheid has been
definitively abolished, and this shining victory is shared by
our Organization, which fought apartheid
uncompromisingly. Let us give careful thought to the
formidable lesson of political courage, tolerance and
reconciliation given us by Presidents Mandela and de Klerk.
These advances are offset, however, by the
emergence throughout the world of areas of tension
which, no longer masked by a bipolar structure, are now
growing in intensity. For three years now war has been
raging in the former Yugoslavia, with an increasing toll
of death, suffering and destruction. In Rwanda, we
witnessed the unleashing of barbarism, which in a few
months killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and
provoked a refugee problem of exceptional dimensions.
Similarly, elsewhere - in Africa, the Caucasus, Central
Asia - other regions are faced with new types of conflict,
resulting from the break-up of States and the resurgence
of nationalist, ethnic and religious passions.
Never before has the United Nations found itself so
much at the centre of world politics. The United Nations
today finds itself forced to face entirely new challenges,
to deal with an ever-growing number of demands and
missions that are increasingly complex. I hail the
dedication of our Secretary-General, who has persistently
devoted his energies to the difficult mission of adapting
the Organization to a new international environment, and
of strengthening it to enable it to fulfil its new tasks. I
wish to pay tribute to the United Nations peace-keeping
forces which have intervened in recent times in an
impressive number of conflicts. They have contributed,
at times in a decisive manner, to protecting civilian
populations, to preventing the spread of conflict and to
facilitating the process of transition to democracy. A
significant number of them have given their lives in what
are often highly dangerous operations.
The growth of peace-keeping operations has been
exponential. In the past five years, the Organization has
launched more peace-keeping operations than during the
previous 40. Moreover, the Organization is now
embarked upon activities which far surpass the traditional
peace-keeping concepts to which we had grown
accustomed. Indeed, most of the recent conflicts have
emerged not between States but within States; the Charter
hardly contemplates such situations. We shall therefore
have to give thought to the conditions under which the
United Nations should act in such cases, and ask
ourselves whether it has the necessary resources and
instruments to fulfil its new missions.
"An Agenda for Peace" provides a framework for
the future evolution of our Organization in this field of
peace-keeping. A number of the ideas put forward by the
Secretary-General have been constructively put to use by
the Security Council and by the General Assembly. But
recent experience has shown us, at times pointedly, that
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
there are often serious shortcomings to the way in which
the United Nations conducts these military operations.
Major operations can no longer be decided upon
spontaneously; in the area of peace-keeping, the United
Nations needs to strengthen its organizational, management
and planning capacities. It must be able to rely on a
permanent high command structure capable of
simultaneously conducting several multi-dimensional largescale
operations and which has adequate means for
information processing and coordination.
Effective crisis management implies the capacity to
react quickly, which is why it would be desirable to
enhance the United Nations capacity to rapidly carry the
necessary personnel and equipment to the theatre of
operations. In the recent past there have been too many
instances in which the Secretary-General has been forced to
delay operations approved by the Security Council owing
to a lack of personnel or equipment. This implies that we,
the Member States, should contribute the necessary peacekeeping
troops for future missions and that we should be in
a position to put them rapidly at the disposal of the United
Nations. These contributions should not be limited to
military personnel, but should also include civilians, from
police to election observers. Indeed, peace-keeping requires
many skills, including that of being able to intervene
between opposing parties, of being sensitive to cultural
particularities, and of being able to act as a mediator. The
personnel who are called upon to intervene in these
complex, difficult and dangerous situations should therefore
be properly prepared and trained. Uniform training and
joint exercises constitute the key to the effective integration
of different national contingents in a multinational
operation.
Finally, there is a need for a substantial strengthening
of the safety provisions for the Blue Helmets.
Driven to the limits of its financial and organizational
capacities, the United Nations will increasingly need to
count on regional organizations and structures in order to
carry out these peace-keeping operations. Cooperation
between the United Nations and such organizations is
provided for by the Charter, and it has been developed, for
example, in the former Yugoslavia, in Somalia and in the
Caucasus. It should be further strengthened.
Only the United Nations has the international
legitimacy to decide to use force or to impose peace
enforcement measures. But in the sphere of peace-keeping
and preventive diplomacy, the activities of regional
organizations would have the advantage of relieving the
United Nations of part of its work. Often having a better
understanding of the conflicts in their areas, such
organizations could act with greater effectiveness.
With respect to the European continent, the United
Nations should intensify its cooperation with the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
(CSCE), the Council of Europe and the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO), taking into account the
competence of each of those organizations.
Does international law authorize the United Nations
to intervene within a country? Does not the Charter
assert the principle of non-intervention in the internal
affairs of a State?
I welcome the fact that for some time now the
international community has been treating that principle
in a more flexible way. That principle should no longer
serve as a shield for flagrant and massive violations of
human rights. That is what occurred in 1991 in Iraq,
when the international community came to the aid of the
Kurds, harshly repressed by Saddam Hussein, or, again in
1992 in Somalia, when the task was to protect the supply
of humanitarian aid to a population threatened by famine.
On each occasion, the international community
courageously assumed its duty to assist, though it is true
that in Somalia a political solution remains to be found.
Did the international community show similar
determination when, last spring, a virtual genocide was
perpetrated in Rwanda, especially when the Tutsi
community became the target of a deliberate act of
extermination undertaken by officials of the Hutu
community?
The United Nations, after hesitating for a moment,
decided to reconstitute the United Nations Assistance
Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in order to provide
protection to the population that was threatened. But the
Secretary-General’s appeal was not heeded. The action
finally taken by France and the Africans - and for this I
pay a tribute to them - succeeded at least in putting the
brakes on this infernal machine. I hope in any case that
an international tribunal will be created without delay to
bring to trial those responsible for this crime against
humanity.
In this era of interdependence, efforts with a view to
collective maintenance of peace and security cannot be
reduced to peace-keeping operations alone, but must
necessarily take into account economic and social factors.
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
Famine, underdevelopment, the flow of refugees, overpopulation,
environmental deterioration, drug abuse and,
finally, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are
all serious threats to our global balance and, hence, to
world peace.
In the economic sphere, too, our security depends on
that of others. In all sectors that give rise to concern,
whether we are dealing with military, trade, environmental
or health problems, no nation can isolate itself from others.
We are all affected by what happens beyond our borders,
just as our own actions within our borders inevitably have
repercussions on the community of nations as a whole.
Our security is increasingly indivisible. We cannot
disregard the links that exist between development,
economic growth, protection of the environment and
population movements. If the situation deteriorates in any
one area, the whole can be destabilized.
Having a global mandate in political, economic and
cultural matters, the United Nations is the ideal forum in
which to carry on the quest for lasting development that is
compatible with preservation of an environmental balance
and with the needs of social development.
We express our satisfaction at the recent issuance by
the Secretary-General of his "Agenda for Development",
which is a supplement to his "Agenda for Peace".
We hope that at this session of the Assembly we will
succeed in identifying the priority sectors in which we
should undertake in-depth reforms.
The promotion of progress and of economic, social
and environmental development needs greater attention if
we wish to overcome the long-term threats to international
security. We must give our Organization the necessary
tools to strengthen international cooperation, while national
Governments make efforts to overcome increasingly
complex problems relating to development.
Our vision of the future cannot merely accept poverty
and privation in far too many parts of the world, where
populations are deprived of their fundamental right to food
and education and even to water, health and a roof over
their heads. Wishing to make its contribution to a muchneeded
international solidarity, the Government of
Luxembourg has undertaken to double, by the year 2000,
the percentage of its gross national product earmarked for
official development assistance so as to reach the target of
0.7 per cent.
The agenda for humanity, if I may use the
expression of our Secretary-General, is the true challenge
faced by the United Nations at the end of this twentieth
century. From Rio to Cairo, through Vienna, Copenhagen
and Beijing, major international conferences are supplying
global answers to these global questions. Mankind,
human development and commitment to his community
are at the heart of those concerns, whether we speak of
the Earth Summit, the World Conference on Human
Rights, the International Conference on Population and
Development, the World Summit for Social Development
or the Fourth World Conference on Women. Improving
the status of women and of women’s general access to
education and health is one of the keys to the success of
this vast undertaking.
Millions of people in many parts of the world
continue to fall victim to flagrant violations of their
human rights. The Vienna Conference reaffirmed the
universal validity of those human rights.
The creation at the last session of the General
Assembly of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights should encourage
greater respect for those principles. However,
undertakings assumed are valuable only if they are
translated into practical action. Thus, we must ensure that
the United Nations has the necessary support and means
in this sphere to implement its programme of action. We
must take the necessary measures to increase the
resources and strengthen the functioning of the United
Nations Centre for Human Rights, as well as that of the
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Non-governmental organizations, through their
actions, are also now a part of the international
conscience, including its conscience in regard to respect
for human rights. Thus, our Organization and all its
Member States should recognize and facilitate the
important role played by those organizations.
As we draw near to the celebration of the fiftieth
anniversary of the United Nations, our Organization has
been undertaking a series of negotiations with a view to
revising its working methods. The work with a view to
the necessary reform of the Security Council has
continued over the past year. It will be necessary to
persevere in our search for a solution that will reconcile
the need for a more balanced composition with the
concern for effective functioning.
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It is also imperative to improve the methods of work
of the Council and ensure greater transparency in its work
and better communication with the members of the General
Assembly. Although the latter do not participate in the
deliberations of the Council, they are bound by its decisions
and they are regularly requested to apply sanctions and to
provide funds or personnel for the implementation of peacekeeping
operations.
The Secretariat is a key institution of the United
Nations system. It must have the necessary means to carry
out the innovative work it has been undertaking
energetically and courageously. At the same time,
however, we should combat the proliferation of institutions,
since this exhausts the limited resources of our
Organization and compromises the cogency of its efforts.
In this period of limited resources, it is also imperative
that Member States seriously take up the question of
effective management. Strict budgetary discipline is
needed, and resources should no longer be wasted on
operations with ill-defined goals. In that connection, we
welcome the various steps taken by the Secretary-General
with a view to making better use of the resources provided
to the Organization and creating a more rigorous financial
inspection system.
Our Organization, in the end, will succeed only
through the way in which each State discharges its own
responsibilities under the Charter. They include financial
responsibilities. The obligation of solidarity that is binding
upon all States of our Organization should motivate them
to discharge their budgetary obligations to the United
Nations in full and on time.
Our Organization, which is the only forum that brings
together virtually all the States of the world, needs the
commitment of its Members. It needs decisions that are
well thought out. It needs measures for proper follow-up.
Only in that way will it be able usefully to contribute to
channelling international efforts to realize our common
goal: which is to make our planet a place where peace,
security and greater prosperity for all peoples of the world
can prevail.
The President (interpretation from Spanish): I now
call on the Secretary for External Relations of the Federated
States of Micronesia, the Honourable Mr. Resio Moses.
Mr. Moses (Federated States of Micronesia): I am
honoured to address this forty-ninth session of the General
Assembly. First, I wish to congratulate Mr. Amara Essy on
his election to the presidency, and to say that his
experience makes him an excellent choice to ably lead
this body to meet the challenges ahead. I also take this
opportunity, on behalf of my Government, to congratulate
the former President, His Excellency Mr. Samuel
Insanally, and express our appreciation for his
contributions. The same appreciation is extended to the
Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros-Ghali, for his strong and
effective leadership, so instrumental in the success of the
work accomplished by this Organization.
We note with great sympathy the terrible volcanic
eruption in Papua New Guinea. We express the hope that
this Organization and its Members will take all possible
measures to assist in alleviating the suffering and
destruction caused by this disaster. We also express our
sympathy to the people and the Government of the
Republic of Estonia for the recent accident and loss of
life in that country.
We join the other members of this Assembly in
warmly welcoming the new South Africa here. Their
struggle was long, arduous and painful. The people and
Government of Micronesia share the joy of the
Government and people of South Africa at having
achieved their objective.
My Government welcomes the historic steps taken
toward peace in the Middle East and expresses its support
for the ongoing bilateral negotiations between the parties
in that region. In the light of these positive developments
in the peace process, the General Assembly should reflect
this new reality in the course of this forty-ninth session
and provide an environment conducive to further dialogue
between parties.
We gather at a time in our history when new
grounds of cooperation are being woven into greater
dimensions of solidarity. This is fortunate because we
also face urgent challenges to the future of our planet.
From the point of view of a small developing State, we
come to this Assembly with immediate concerns on such
issues as climate change, sustainable development, nuclear
waste and natural disasters.
Linked with all these concerns is the issue of human
rights. The road from Vienna, where the world
community met only a few hundred miles from where
"ethnic cleansing" was taking place in Bosnia and spoke
of improvements in the field of human rights, has been
marked with new signposts leading us in the right
direction, namely, the establishment of the post of United
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Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
election of Ambassador Jose Ayala Lasso to that post.
However, the scenery along the way is not that much
different from what it was for many years before this.
Today, the atrocities and violations of human rights that are
continuing in Bosnia seem to be even overshadowed by
newer outbreaks of human rights violations in such areas as
Rwanda, Haiti and other parts of our world. This
Assembly must continue to devote its attention and
resources to human rights.
Several weeks ago at Brisbane, Australia, the Heads of
Government of our 15 Pacific States, including the
Federated States of Micronesia, held the annual meeting of
the South Pacific Forum. As is their practice each year, the
leaders discussed matters of common concern within our
region and expressed consensus views in a communiqué
that has already been presented and included in the records
of this Assembly. The Federated States of Micronesia
subscribes to the views expressed in that communiqué, and
will be guided by it in many of our actions here in the
coming months.
The South Pacific Forum also decided, at its recent
meeting in Brisbane, to seek observer status at the United
Nations during this forty-ninth session. In attaining
observer status with the United Nations, the South Pacific
Forum will address the increasing importance placed on the
role of regional organizations and the contributions they can
make towards the objectives of the United Nations. We
believe that the Forum, as an observer, can increase the
effectiveness of our region’s work on such critical issues as
climate change, conservation of biological diversity and
effective implementation of the results of the Global
Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States.
One long-standing major concern of our Government,
which is shared by Forum members, is the testing of
nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction
within our region. We are relieved by the continued
moratorium on nuclear testing by France and the United
States, but we remain deeply concerned at the possible
consequences that may flow from China’s insistence on
proceeding with its programme. We will not breathe easy
until a moratorium on all testing is made permanent, and to
that end we hope that rapid progress will be made towards
concluding a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty.
Despite our outspoken concerns in numerous
international venues during recent years, the Pacific
region’s vastness and seeming emptiness still makes it an
attractive location for environmentally unfriendly
activities. Too often, when we have attempted as island
countries to halt movements through our waters of toxic,
radioactive and hazardous materials, our voices have not
been heard. As if the dangers of such transport were not
bad enough, today we confront an even more repugnant
prospect, that of our region becoming a permanent
dumping ground for the world’s nuclear waste. I wish to
emphasize here that the Federated States of Micronesia is
and will remain diametrically opposed to the use of our
region by countries which are unwilling to store their
waste within their own borders. As part of our dedication
to finding more effective means to prevent these outrages,
the Federated States of Micronesia has the honour of
chairing the ongoing negotiations within the Forum group
towards a regional treaty banning transboundary
movement of all hazardous wastes.
Through these and other appropriate actions, we are
determined to see that the Pacific region is treated by the
rest of the world community with the same degree of
concern for the long-term health and welfare of our
people and their environment.
We welcome the Secretary-General’s new report on
an Agenda for Development. My Government fully
supports the call for a re-evaluation of the role of the
United Nations in development. As the United Nations
approaches its fiftieth anniversary, its global agenda must
be redefined to be more comprehensive and more
focused. The present lack of coordination between the
Bretton Woods institutions and the United Nations must
be corrected to synchronize the setting of global policy on
development.
The end of the cold war has presented the United
Nations with a long-overdue opportunity to turn its
attention to development. Yet the cost associated with
expanded peace-keeping operations around the world is
diverting scarce resources at a time when, for many
States, the role of the United Nations in development is
becomingly increasingly prominent. This is a trend that
the United Nations must examine very carefully in order
to find the proper balance among all its responsibilities
under the Charter.
The recently concluded International Conference on
Population and Development in Cairo is testimony to the
global problems associated with our rapid population
growth. The United Nations and the international
community face a pressing urgency to redirect resources
to address population growth and sustainable resource use.
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The world’s population is growing faster than ever before
with an estimated number of 95 million people being added
each year. This unprecedented population growth rate will
have a profound effect on our environment. The action
plan for population and sustainable development has clear
implications for climate change. I wish to draw the
distinction that, although the rate of population growth in
the industrialized world is slower, these countries still add
a disproportionate cost to the environment because residents
in industrialized countries add about four times as much
carbon to the atmosphere each year as do their counterparts
in the developing countries. Micronesia strongly supports
the Programme of Action on Population Control and
Development endorsed at Cairo and is looking forward to
meeting the goals and objectives contained therein.
As an island State, my Government welcomes the
significant breakthrough and the universal acceptance of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea and its
imminent entry into force on 16 November 1994. This is
the culmination of long and arduous negotiations among
countries for more than a decade in shaping what I consider
to be a near-perfect management and conservation regime
for the high seas and the deep seabed which is the common
heritage of mankind. The Federated States of Micronesia
is a party to the Convention and I am happy to inform the
Assembly that my country was among the many countries
which signed the deep seabed mining Agreement relating to
the Implementation of Part XI of the Convention after it
was opened for signature. We look forward to close
cooperation with the international community in the sound
management and conservation of the high seas as well as
our individual territorial waters.
As a developing island State whose economy is
dependent on these resources, Micronesia is committed to
the promotion of responsible fishing practices - not only
within our exclusive economic zone and the zones of our
neighbours in the region, but also in the contiguous high
seas areas adjacent to the zones. The Federated States of
Micronesia has actively participated in all of the substantive
sessions of the United Nations Conference on Straddling
Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. In the
Federated States of Micronesia, we are fortunate that our
islands are located in those latitudes of the Pacific Ocean in
which 50 per cent of the world’s highest grade tuna
resources are located and caught. While we appreciate
having this resource, we remain ever mindful of the fact
that the continued viability of our economy depends on the
rational use of the marine resources present in our waters
and beyond. This principle of rational utilization of
resources forms the foundation for the concept of
sustainable development.
It is not only coastal States like my own, which must
be dedicated to rational use and responsible fishing
practices. Distant water fishing nations must also
recognize and protect the fragile balance of nature that
exists in the oceans of the world to ensure the
sustainability of the resource.
During the last session of the Conference on
Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks,
my Government’s delegation joined the 15 other States
members of the Forum Fisheries Agency in supporting a
binding legal document as the form of outcome for the
Conference. Even so, we do not support any outcome
which would compromise the sovereign rights of coastal
States over the living marine resources occurring within
their own extended economic zones. We do not support
any derogation from the provisions of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea that recognize the
sovereign rights of coastal States.
I now direct my comments to the recently concluded
Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States in Barbados, which has
been a great success in many ways. For the first time in
the history of the United Nations, we have been able to
put forward an agenda for world attention concerning the
sustainable development of small island developing States.
The Programme of Action that emerged from that Global
Conference is the first post-Rio de Janeiro effort to
amplify the principles of Agenda 21 in a specific context
pointing towards tangible measures for implementation.
While this is a milestone, it will remain little more
than a planning document without the genuine
commitment of our developing countries around the
world. We welcome the recent report of the Secretary-
General on actions taken by the Organization and by the
bodies of the United Nations system to implement the
Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States. We cannot help but feel
a certain impatience to see actions taken that are
accompanied by necessary funding; nevertheless my
Government applauds the steps being taken to ensure that
the results of the Barbados Conference are integrated into
the programme of work of the Commission on
Sustainable Development. Strong partnership in this
regard should be seen not as a conflict between developed
and developing countries, but rather as a shared goal and
an investment for the benefit of the entire family of
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nations. A notable and welcome example of such shared
effort is the upcoming initiative by the United States to
work with all countries towards the revitalization of the
essential coral reefs, which are deteriorating all over the
world.
The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is one
source of funding from which Small Island Developing
States could access financial assistance for implementation
of the Programme of Action and other related
environmental endeavours. The Programme of Action
adopted at the Barbados Conference specifically requested
that, since such global environmental problems as climate
change, biological diversity and international waters are of
great significance and concern to small island developing
States, the restructured GEF should be seen as an important
channel of assistance in these areas through the provision
of new and additional resources. At the meeting of Heads
of State the South Pacific Forum, which recently concluded
in Brisbane, Australia, welcomed the restructuring and
replenishment of the GEF and its intention to assist in the
implementation of the decisions taken at Barbados.
We therefore encourage all Member States, during the
forty-ninth session of the General Assembly, to give
meaning to the concept of sustainable development by
supporting the overall outcome of Barbados, including all
enabling legislation. This will give the United Nations
specialized agencies and organizations the mandate to start
implementing the Programme of Action.
In the Framework Convention on Climate Change, we
appealed for a more constructive approach by the
international community, with a view to further
commitments towards the reduction of greenhouse gases, as
called for by the proposed protocol to the Convention
distributed this week to the Parties by the Alliance of Small
Island States. Recent scientific reports have confirmed with
certainty that global warming is occurring. More
importantly, it is also clear that the industrialized countries
must make greater cutbacks in emissions than were
originally envisioned if there is to be any hope of avoiding
disastrous consequences to much of the world -
consequences which cynics were scoffing at only a few
years ago. We welcomed with hope the coming into being
of the climate-change Convention this past March and call
upon all Members of the United Nations to be present as
Parties when the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention convenes in Berlin.
In keeping with its concern for the protection and
sustainable use of the environment, the Federated States of
Micronesia acceded in June to the Convention on
Biological Diversity and is looking forward to the first
Conference of the Parties this November, in the Bahamas.
In this connection, my Government wishes to add its
support to the request made at the last session of the
Intergovernmental Group in Nairobi that work on a
protocol on biosafety should begin without further delay.
The question of ownership and access to ex-situ genetic
resources not presently covered by the Convention must
also be addressed as a matter of priority.
The concept of giving equal priority to the
environment and to development is now widely accepted
but remains in many ways difficult to implement. It will
remain so for many years to come, even though all our
best thinking is to be devoted to it. Sadly, even as we
speak, the quality and stocks of our planet’s natural
resources are deteriorating at an accelerated pace due to
past and current practices. If we are to succeed in
confronting this challenge, the integrated efforts of the
entire international community must call upon the assets
that all countries - large and small, developed and
developing - can bring to bear.
For example, sustainable living, which has been the
way of island peoples for centuries, involves practices and
techniques that are quite relevant to sustainable
development in much of today’s world. The canoes
sailing across our crystal blue lagoons bring to mind a
host of traditions of our people that involve clean use of
the environment and highly effective resourcemanagement
practices. We must approach sustainable
development in a way that respects and builds on the ageold
concept of sustainable living and takes full account of
the wisdom that can be gleaned from indigenous cultures
worldwide.
In other words, my country believes that not only is
it important to have a common vision to combat climate
change and promote sustainable development, but it is
now incumbent upon us seriously to rethink our roles and
how we can all play a vital part in restoring our
environment. As a front-line country in terms of
vulnerability, Micronesia recognizes that we cannot retreat
into the position of treating global environmental issues
only to the extent to which we think we are conveniently
capable, without giving due consideration to their urgency
and magnitude. Addressing this man-made catastrophe
requires many more additional resources and a greater
commitment, especially on the part of the developed
world.
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Our views on these issues are clear and simple: we
are convinced that all our efforts are mounting up to a
long-term investment for the survival and viability of our
ecosystem, the common heritage of mankind. In assessing
what has transpired so far in all related activities geared to
this common objective, I cannot but say how fascinated I
am with the enormous effort that has gone into these
processes. The activities include the negotiations on the
climate-change Convention, the biodiversity Convention, the
desertification Convention and the Convention on the Law
of the Sea, as well as the Conference on Straddling Fish
Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, the Barbados
Conference, the Cairo Conference on Population and
Development, the Commission on Sustainable Development
and the Global Environmental Facility. I cannot but believe
that positive progress will emanate from this massive
human energy and commitment, and that our future will be
secured with this common vision. We are not only
inhabitants of this planet, but custodians of its resources for
future generations. I hope that the greed of mankind will
not in the end triumph over the our inherent responsibility
to leave for future generations an environment that is as
habitable as the one we find today. Sustainable utilization
of our natural resources may be the greatest gift that our
present civilization can contribute to future humanity.
The President (interpretation from Spanish): I now
call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, Her
Excellency Mrs. Rosa E. Otunbayeva.
Mrs. Otunbayeva (Kyrgyzstan) (interpretation from
Russian): I wish to congratulate the President on his
appointment to this highly responsible and important post.
My delegation will work constructively with him during the
course of this, the forty-ninth session of the General
Assembly of the United Nations.
Since the end of the Second World War, the fiftieth
anniversary of which we shall be celebrating next year, the
world has been engaged in peace-building. It has been a
long road, and it has not been without its dramatic
moments. Over the past half century the world has come
to the brink of nuclear war many times. Now, with the end
of the cold war, with the dissolution of the bipolar world,
a new challenge has arisen in the shape of a series of wars
and conflicts based on ethnic and religious intolerance that
have exploded in many different areas of the world.
In his report "An Agenda for Peace" the Secretary
General spoke of the concentration of efforts towards
preventive diplomacy, of steps for increasing international
confidence-building and achieving early recognition of
conflict situations. Such measures have taken on special
importance in our countries with the fall of
totalitarianism, because we have inherited many longstanding
issues of conflict that had previously been
hidden and suppressed by a regime of terror in the
conditions of that time.
The United Nations, in our view, could play a
leadership role in the study of typical conflict situations.
It could systematize the approaches, principles and paths
for the resolution of traditional issues of dispute such as
border issues, the sharing or allocation of water and other
natural resources, the self-determination of nations and
territorial integrity, and the protection of minorities on the
basis of ethnic, religious, linguistic and other differences.
This would allow the United Nations to establish a legal
basis for decisions that would help decrease the potential
for new conflicts and aid in the resolution of existing
problems. Only by following the highest authority of
law, and only on the basis of international law, can we
weave a solid fabric of peace throughout the planet, in all
of its smallest corners, no matter how remote or
provincial.
Violence and intolerance among people have led to
unending war and bloodshed in the former Yugoslavia.
The tragedy of Bosnia poses a challenge to all
humankind. Fifty years ago the nations of this world,
having united, put an end to nazism and genocide. Why
then are we now moving so slowly in the face of the
violence that is obviously based on ethnic and religious
discrimination and that is reverberating throughout the
planet? We stand for a political settlement of conflicts.
We call for both sides to put an end to the bloody
slaughter. In our view, the recommendations of the
Contact Group provide a way out of this crisis and hope
that peace can be restored in the heart of Europe.
We greatly value the efforts of the Secretary-
General, his Mission and the Observer Group of the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
(CSCE) to resolve issues peacefully in Tajikistan. We
welcome the recently signed cease-fire in Tehran, in
accordance with which hostilities have temporarily ceased
and political prisoners and prisoners of war are being
released. We have great hope for the gradual end of this
crisis and for the unification of the Tajik peoples, who
have experienced more than enough sorrow and suffering,
for the return of all refugees to their homes and for the
restoration of peace with our neighbours. We express this
hope now, before the coming winter, and call upon all
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countries to render vitally important humanitarian aid to
Tajikistan.
We are following with great concern and alarm the
situation in Afghanistan and welcome the efforts towards
settlement. The restoration of peace in that country and the
achievement of national reconciliation would bring longawaited
peace to the Afghan people, who have suffered so
much, and drastically improve the situation in our region of
the world. That region is exhausted from gunfire and war.
It is yearning for trade and a return to tilling the soil.
Notwithstanding the tremendous difficulties inherent
in our search for peace and accord in that country, we urge
the world not to give in either to moral or to donor fatigue.
It is not possible to dodge responsibilities during this trying
period because the deadly conflict in this country has been
brought about by participation on many different sides.
Afghanistan has a plethora of weapons. The country is
prey to a non-stop and intensive arms race. Hope for peace
can be guaranteed only if the international community
devotes its unwavering attention and political will to
unravelling the knot of the Afghan conflict.
That is why my country has consistently called for
completion and effective implementation of the Register of
Conventional Weapons. We support the initiative of the
United States announced by President Clinton on the
ratification of and support for General Assembly resolution
48/75 K of 16 December 1993 on a moratorium on the
export of land-mines.
The Kyrgyz Republic has consistently stood for a
comprehensive, effective reduction in conventional arms.
We are actively and diligently working on the conversion
of our defence industry to civilian production. Kyrgyzstan,
as a non-nuclear State, signed the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and advocates
transforming it into an agreement of unlimited duration.
We welcome the efforts of all countries - and first and
foremost the United States of America and France - to
reach a consensus on the issue of a comprehensive nucleartest
ban.
We support the initiatives put forward by President
Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan on confidence-building measures
in Asia, and we envisage our region of Central Asia,
located as it is between two nuclear Powers, as an area free
of nuclear weapons. That would be our Central Asian
treaty.
Our world, so full of anxiety and so weary, believes
that hope for peace is not an illusion. I recall with great
excitement the unseasonably warm day of 13 September
1993 at the White House in Washington when, after many
years of conflict, a declaration of principles on Palestinian
self-rule in Gaza and Jericho was signed by the Israeli
Government and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
It is with great satisfaction and happiness that we see
together with us in this Hall representatives of the
Government of South Africa that was elected on a
democratic basis. Let us stock up on patience. We can
achieve breakthroughs and visible results on the difficult
path to peace and concord only if we do not give in to
fatalism.
United Nations peace-keeping efforts are achieving
significant success in settling many of the conflicts of our
time. We know that 75 countries are participating in 17
United Nations Missions overseeing the holding and
monitoring of elections, rendering humanitarian assistance
during disasters and restoring what has been destroyed, as
well as ensuring a United Nations military and police
presence. The issue of creating reserve peace-keeping
forces has now been raised. From this rostrum we hear
the commitment of dozens of countries to peace-keeping
operations. We need the blue helmets of peace, not the
mercenary black helmets of death which have recently
participated with increasing frequency in conflict zones
around the world.
Fully aware that peace-keeping operations are an
important factor in the future new world order, my
country, with its highly qualified doctors, nurses,
engineers and rescue workers, would like to participate in
peace-keeping operations. We accept and support the
proposals that many countries have made here at the
General Assembly during discussions of peace-keeping
issues with regard to the need and opportunities for
conducting training of military and civilian personnel on
both a multilateral and a bilateral basis. Such possibilities
are also open to us as participants in the Partnership for
Peace programme of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO).
As a country experiencing a period of emergency
and in need of immediate assistance because of natural
disasters and social hardships, we warmly support the
proposal of Argentina’s President Menem that a civilian
service be created to provide immediate humanitarian
assistance under the auspices of the United Nations.
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Development is the main problem facing young
democratic societies. Thirty years’ experience of North-
South collaboration has taught us, the new 1990s generation
of independent countries, instructive lessons. It is easy for
our achievements and our real advantages to become lost in
the picture of the protracted drop in production levels and
the destruction of the social infrastructure. The people of
Kyrgyzstan are grateful to the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization
(WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) and other institutions in the
United Nations family that have sought to help us at this
difficult time.
In the face of a sharp increase in drug trafficking,
interwoven with transnational organized crime, first in our
region and then through Russia to Europe and other
continents, we need energetic and massive measures to
block the drug-distribution routes and destroy production.
The United Nations International Drug Control Programme
has become truly critical in our region. As a whole, we
would like to see greater action and coordination of the
work of the United Nations specialized institutions with the
new States, both at their headquarters and in their regional
offices.
It is noteworthy that not only traditional developed
countries, but also developing countries, which bear the
burden of their own numerous economic and social
problems, have helped in the establishment of the newly
independent States and their entry into the world order.
And this has particular significance. We are firmly
convinced that the timely rendering of full-fledged,
effective assistance to us - countries with transitional
economies that must now choose their own paths at this
difficult time - will help us to stand more quickly on our
own two feet, form the foundation for a market economy
and develop democratic foundations for society. We
ourselves will then be able to render speedier assistance to
the more needy. We support such a policy of reaching out
towards solidarity, mutual support and collaboration.
Bearing in mind the close collaboration of countries
with transitional economies with international financial and
economic institutions, precise coordination and deeper
interaction of the work of the United Nations and the
Bretton Woods institutions are becoming increasingly
necessary.
The Kyrgyz Republic welcomes and shares the
objectives and fundamental parameters of development set
forth in the preliminary report of the Secretary-General,
"An Agenda for Development". These are peace,
economic growth, the environment, justice and
democracy.
The recent World Conference on Population and
Development in Cairo and future Conferences on social
development and the improvement of the status of women
testify to the world’s deep concern about the situation of
basic human needs at the turn of the next century. If
human rights are all-inclusive, universal and inalienable,
then these rights also pertain to all women and children
on Earth. The improvement of the status of women is
key to resolving vital social problems such as those
involving population, education and health care. In other
words, it is the most important issue on the eve of the
twenty-first century for an agenda for humanity.
In my country, we will fully support and are ready
to cooperate with the newly appointed United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights. We in
Kyrgyzstan, a country in which over 80 ethnicities reside,
seek to create equal and just conditions for all of our
citizens. There are no restrictions on the development of
culture, the arts, education or media in the languages of
all ethnic groups. Along with an increase in mosques, the
number of Orthodox and Protestant churches is growing.
Committed to ideas of friendship and concord, we are
consistently working on programmes and measures to halt
migration from our country and to preserve the present
multi-ethnic composition of society. On the basis of the
Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to
National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities
adopted at the forty-seventh session of the General
Assembly, my country, together with the Russian
Federation, cosponsored a CIS convention on the rights of
ethnic minorities, which is currently open for ratification
to all other Commonwealth members.
Democracy in my country is very fragile. Political
pluralism, freedom of the press and speech, and adherence
to human rights and fundamental freedoms in the
Republic are not accidental gifts from above but genuine
values for which a real struggle is being waged in society
- the struggle between openness and isolation, blind force
and respect for the law, totalitarian ways and commitment
to freedom. But the people of Kyrgyzstan, headed by
President Askar Akaev, having made its choice three
years ago, firmly and unwaveringly stand for democracy
and a market economy.
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A tectonic political, social, and economic shift is
taking place across the enormous Eurasian land mass. The
success of the present transformations in Russia strengthens
our own awareness of the irrevocability of the choice of the
democratic way. Kyrgyzstan, like other nations of the
Commonwealth of Independent States, is deeply committed
to democracy, the principles of freedom and independence,
and the philosophy and spirit of the creation of peace. My
ancient people, yet still a young nation, like the "Manas" -
a Kyrgyz epic poem of a million lines - the millennium of
which we will celebrate in 1995, is undergoing a
renaissance. We realize that a long and thorny path awaits
us. But the most important thing on that path is peace,
which is the same for everyone on this Earth and is
indivisible.
The President (interpretation from Spanish): We
have heard the last speaker in the general debate for this
afternoon.
Several representatives have asked to speak in exercise
of the right of reply; I would remind members that, in
accordance with General Assembly decision 34/401,
statements made in exercise of the right of reply should be
limited to 10 minutes for the first intervention and five
minutes for the second, and should be made by delegations
from their seats.
Mr. Matešic´ (Croatia): I apologize for speaking at
this late hour, but I shall be brief.
My delegation wishes to respond to the statement
made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece during
the general debate on Wednesday, 28 September. In
particular, we wish to respond to the following comment in
his statement:
"The concentration of efforts aimed at ending the war
in Bosnia and Herzegovina does not mean that less
attention should be paid to a solution of the problem
of the Krajinas, nor that its importance should be
underestimated." (Official Records of the General
Assembly, Forty-eighth Session, Plenary Meetings,
8th meeting, p. 24)
While my delegation agrees with the general thrust of
the Foreign Minister’s comment, we are surprised by his
reference to the so-called Krajinas. From the context, it is
obvious that the reference is to a part of the internationally
recognized territory of the Republic of Croatia. In this
regard, my delegation wishes to stress that, within the
Republic of Croatia, there are no administrative units called
"Krajinas". Rather, this is a name that has been given by
the Belgrade proxies to Serb-occupied territories of
Croatia.
We wish to stress that the Security Council has
stated in numerous resolutions that this territory is an
integral part of the Republic of Croatia. My delegation
was therefore surprised by the fact that a part of the
territory of the Republic of Croatia was referred to in the
manner mentioned above by the Greek Foreign Minister
while, at the same time, he did not make reference to the
Republic of Croatia when discussing the situation within
Croatia. My delegation was all the more surprised by this
as Greece has shown particular sensitivity to geographic
and State names which it perceives as threatening its
sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Republic of Croatia wishes to maintain the
existing good relations that it has with Greece and
applauds any constructive actions of the Greek
Government that could help to resolve the crisis in our
region in a just and equitable manner. However, it would
seem only proper that Greece show consistency in its
position on geographic names and not make references to
parts of the internationally recognized territory of the
Republic of Croatia in a manner that is not acceptable to
the Croatian Government and which might be interpreted
as putting into question the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the Republic of Croatia.
Mr. Laclaustra (Spain) (interpretation from
Spanish): The Head of my delegation, the Minister for
Foreign Affairs of Spain, will have the opportunity
tomorrow to congratulate the President of the General
Assembly.
On this occasion, the Spanish delegation wishes to
refer to the references made to the Spanish cities of Ceuta
and Melilla in the statement made today by the Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
of Morocco.
In my delegation’s view, those references are
inaccurate and inappropriate. They are inaccurate because
these are Spanish Territories whose citizens are
represented in the national parliament under the same
conditions as all their compatriots. The references are
inappropriate because they are not consistent with the
good relations that exist between the Kingdom of Spain
and the Kingdom of Morocco.
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Forty-ninth session 29 September 1994
Mr. Kulla (Albania) (interpretation from French):
The head of the Albanian delegation to the General
Assembly at its forty-ninth session - the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Mr. Serreqi - in his statement to the
Assembly, will convey the delegation’s congratulations to
Mr. Amara Essy of Côte d’Ivoire on his election as
President of the Assembly for the session. For my part, I
should like to take this opportunity to wish Mr. Essy all
success in his noble mission.
I requested this opportunity to speak so that I might
present my Government’s views on statements made here
yesterday by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece.
Regrettably, those statements do not reflect the truth and
the reality of the situation in my country. We deplore the
fact that for a long time Greece, our neighbour, has
doggedly refused to recognize the obvious political,
economic and institutional transformations that have been
carried out over the past three years by Albania’s
democratic Government. I refer in particular to the
absurd analogy with the previous regime - an analogy that
contrasts totally with all the reports of numerous
international observers.
I should like to recall the fact that my Government
has committed itself to the best possible treatment of
national minorities in the Balkans. Respect for the human
rights and fundamental freedoms of all the citizens of
Albania is the foundation of the country’s legislation.
What is even more important is that it is one of Albania’s
long-standing traditions.
Albania has committed itself to intensive economic
reform and is confronting great difficulties. Several
international institutions that are cooperating with us are
completely satisfied with our economic reform, describing
it as the most successful. In this context, we note with
regret that Greece, although it is the only Balkan country
in the European Union, has on several occasions used its
veto to block the provision of Union aid to Albania, in an
effort to make our transition even more arduous.
I should like to emphasize that, despite the rigid
position adopted by Greece, the Government of Albania
has left the door to dialogue open, considering this the
only means of overcoming the crisis.
The meeting rose at 7.35 p.m.
35