Mr. Essy Cote d'Ivoire president
The meeting was called to order at 3.40 p.m.
Address by Mr. Heydar Alirza ogly Aliyev, President of the Azerbaijani Republic
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.
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.
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 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 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 self-determination 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 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 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 peace-keepers 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.
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.
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 next speaker is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, His Excellency Mr. Antonio Martino.
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.
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 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.
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 non-proliferation. 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 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 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.
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.
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 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 money-laundering, 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 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.
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.
I now call on the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, His Excellency Mr. Alois Mock.
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. Non-payment 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 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 German-speaking and Ladino minorities.
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 peace-keeping 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 re-establishment 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 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 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.
I now call on the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Oman, His Excellency Mr. Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah.
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 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 co-sponsors 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.
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 water-resources 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 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. Peace-keeping 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 time-frame.
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.
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 next speaker is the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, His Excellency Mr. Stanislav Daskalov, on whom I now call.
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 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 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 burden-sharing, 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 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 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.
I now call on the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Cooperation of Luxembourg, His Excellency Mr. Jacques Poos.
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 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 large-scale 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 peace-keeping 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?
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