UN General Assembly
1996

and the establishment of a new balance in the region, the same balance that helped the international community forge the Dayton Peace Agreement. We are grateful to all Member States that supported our appeals and calls in the General Assembly for universal respect of international law — as reflected, for instance, in General Assembly resolution 49/43, which created the political conditions and legal framework for the peaceful reintegration of Eastern Slavonia. We are also grateful to Member States whose diplomats and soldiers are more directly involved in the successful implementation of the UNTAES mandate. Thanks in part to General Assembly support for the universal principles enshrined in the Charter and in part to the intervention of United Nations peacekeeping forces, the countries which emerged following the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia are now increasingly heading towards the objective of peacefully resolving mutual problems on a bilateral basis and through regular multilateral contacts, thereby lessening the need for international involvement and mediation. Those problems include the succession to the former State; regional security arrangements and arms