UN General Assembly
1996

not know in whose interest it is, in this or similar articles, to push them into the embrace of the extremists. Our country and people went through hell. The world deemed that it had the right to impose an arms embargo; we believed that we had the right to self- defence. In a competition between those two rights, we believed, and we still believe, that our right was greater. Therefore, I am not going to apologize to anyone for our having done everything possible to secure arms in order to survive. On the contrary, I pay tribute to all brave people, and express my gratitude to all of the friendly countries that assisted us during the war. That page of our history is over, and we are turning to a new one: Peace. I thank the United States of America for starting the initiative for peace and for making efforts, together with other countries, to strengthen this fragile and complex peace. We are a small country, and we must pursue an open and honest policy. Secret diplomacy and double