UN General Assembly
1999

Please allow me to warmly congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at this session. I am confident that with your wisdom and experience, you will be able to accomplish your lofty mission successfully. At the same time, I would like to express my appreciation to Mr. Opertti for the contribution he made as President of the General Assembly at its previous session. I also wish to take this opportunity to extend my sincere congratulations to the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga on their admission to the membership of the United Nations. The current session of the General Assembly is of special significance, as it is the last one of this century. A review of the past may help us predict the future. In retrospect, during the past century humanity, on the one hand, created unprecedented material wealth and culture and, on the other, suffered from the scourge of two world wars and the ordeal of the cold war, which lasted for