UN General Assembly
2008

their potential as part of global solidarity. 08-51839 32 I have referred to Georgia in the context of energy security. But the situation in that country is far more serious. Several weeks ago we witnessed an illegal military aggression and the division of the country. That was an aggression against an independent State. Fundamental principles of international law, such as the inviolability of borders and respect for territorial integrity, were breached. Without respect for those principles, the world will be a hotbed of not one but hundreds of conflicts. We cannot allow the relativization of international law. We cannot accept that international law is applicable to the weak but not binding on the strong. If we do, international law will have no positive impact, especially as concerns the principle of territorial integrity. We must not allow the undermining of a principle on the basis of which the United Nations was established 63 years ago in the aftermath of the Second World War as a consequence of the bankruptcy of the League of Nations. That founding principle of the