UN General Assembly
1976

90. In this case the division is not based on traditional affinities, but on interests of the moment. On the one hand we have the coastal States and on the other the land-locked and geographically disadvantaged countries. None of the just claims of the latter countries were accepted. Actually, they were only asking for the legal confirmation of a de facto situation rather than making new claims. They asked that the convention being drawn up should merely note the right of free access to and from the sea and the right to exploit the marine resources in future exclusive zones. That request was refused. But the coastal States are about to obtain legal sanction for all their new demands. In order to bypass the requests of the land-locked and geographically disadvantaged countries, the spokesmen of the coastal States went so far as to offer them a deal, and what a deal! There is a flagrant injustice here. The international community cannot assume responsibility for that.