111.	 Mr. President, at the outset permit me to congratulate you on your election as President of this twenty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. I wish you all success in this high office and pledge you the full confidence and support of my delegation.
112.	Allow me also to pay a tribute to the Secretary- General for his tireless efforts in promoting the cause of the United Nations. I recall with pleasure the visit of the Secretary-General to Iceland earlier this year, which my Government and the people of Iceland appreciated highly.
113.	I want join my colleagues who have spoken before me in welcoming the new Members of the United Nations —  the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. We look forward to their valued contributions to our Organization.
114.	Now I should like to refer briefly to what we think should be the role of the United Nations in the world today and what we see as the main purpose and objectives of the Organization 28 years after its foundation.
115.	Iceland is one of the smallest Members of the United Nations and, since we joined in 1946, we have seen our membership of this Organization as a corner-stone of our foreign policy. A small nation has no less than the big Powers a vested interest in solving the political and security-related problems of our times and in maintaining an effective international organization that can successfully deal with the manifold challenges of international society. Our experience has shown that regional arrangements, however desirable, cannot always meet the wishes and interests of the smaller Members, which gain wider support and sympathy in a world body of a truly universal character.
116.	There can be no doubt that the necessity for global co-operation in the political, economic and social fields has never been greater than today. The question is, therefore, how we can best make the United Nations an effective instrument for furthering such co-operation. In this respect we should like to emphasize what Secretary-General Waldheim has said in the introduction to his report on the work of the Organization [A/9001/Add. 1/, that the United Nations cannot successfully deal with disputes unless it has the full support and political backing of the international community. From the simple fact that this is not always the case stems much of the disillusion and disappointment frequently expressed when the record of the United Nations is debated. We need a much clearer understanding of the fact that the United Nations is not a supra-national government but an instrument of negotiation and multilateral diplomacy. Assertions that the United Nations has been ineffective in solving conflicts endangering world peace, such as the war in Viet-Nam, and has so far failed to bring peace to the Middle East must be viewed against this background. This does not mean, however, that we should not strive to make the United Nations a more effective organization with much wider powers than it has now, to enable it to act on its own in times of crises.
117.	What we want is not a debating club or a forum for pursuing narrow national policies but an organization which can play a strong and active role in finding solutions to the most controversial problems of our times. This might mean restructuring the United Nations machinery, but the gain would be a stronger instrument of world order capable of safeguarding the common interests of mankind. We must remember that the United Nations was created nearly 30 years ago to cope with a world in many respects very different from the one we live in today. While turning the United Nations into a much more effective instrument for world peace, we must adapt to new needs and interests, foremost among them being those of the newly independent countries whose position and voice in the Councils of the United Nations should be strengthened. The concepts of colonial times, with their legal and moral anachronisms, must be eliminated.
118.	However, if it is sometimes necessary to focus attention on the shortcomings of the international institutions and their achievements, we can note with satisfaction definite progress on a number of highly problematical international issues since we last met in this Assembly hall.
119.	The Korean question has long been one of the difficult and most controversial issues in the United Nations. With the start of direct talks between North Korea and South Korea a welcome change has taken place which has led to the invitation to both Governments to come before this Assembly and state their cases. After 23 years the United Nations Commission on the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea has in its report to the Secretary- General [A/9027] recommended its own liquidation. That will be another positive step in normalizing relations between the two Korean States. There remains, however, the question of the United Nations Command in South Korea. Its future is a question to be resolved by the Security Council, as it has a direct bearing on the maintenance of peace in the area. We hope that the time will soon come when we can welcome the Korean States as new Members of this Organization.
120.	A major step forward was the joining of the Organization by both German States. This event represents the pinnacle of the tireless efforts for the normalization of relations on the European scene, crystallizing in the accords between the two German States, and between the Federal
Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union and Poland. These have been among the most hopeful sings of our times and have greatly contributed to the general search for peace in the world.
121.	Similarly high hopes are fixed on the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, which opened in Helsinki in July this year and is now in its second stage in Geneva.
122.	The time has come to eliminate the barriers that have divided the peoples of Europe in spite of their common history and cultural heritage. We must strive not only for a mutual reduction of forces in this area, but also for greatly increased co-operation in the economic field and closer contacts among the common people. The goal is a unified Europe which can contribute greatly towards the establishment of a lasting peace in the world.
123.	We see a long list of items of concern to the international community on the agenda of this General Assembly. The question of decolonization merits special mention. We cannot but recognize the fact that millions of people are still living under the yoke of colonialism, deprived of their fundamental human rights. This is so in spite of repeated efforts by the United Nations throughout the years. The major blame must be put on the Governments concerned which have, year after year, consistently ignored the resolutions and directives of the United Nations, in particular with respect to southern Africa.
124.	The process of decolonization must be accelerated and every pressure put on those Governments that persist in refusing to grant peoples under their domination basic human rights. As a country that has been under foreign domination for 500 years and that has become only recently independent, we fully appreciate the appeals from those still under foreign domination. Withholding freedom and independence from millions of people, not only in southern Africa but elsewhere, constitutes a major obstacle to the relaxation of international tension and may indeed lead to armed conflict if persisted in. We address an urgent appeal therefore to those nations that still practise oppression and colonialism to adhere to the course charted by the United Nations in these matters.
125.	Indeed, the United Nations should strive to persuade Governments to live up to the universal Declaration of Human Rights, which certainly is one of the most important documents created by this Organization. We must also try to make the United Nations a more humane Organization, concerned not only with the problems of States and high-level diplomacy, but also with the hopes and aspirations of the common man, under whatever system of government he may be living.
126.	In the field of economic and social affairs the United Nations has a record of long and praiseworthy accomplishments, one of them being the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme at the last General Assembly [resolution 2997 (XXVII)]. There is an urgent need not only to protect the human environment but also to conserve and wisely husband the world's dwindling natural resources. This can best be done by ensuring effective control by each country over its natural resources, be they found on land, on the sea-bed or in the superjacent waters. Only a few weeks ago the meeting of the non-aligned countries in Algiers proclaimed that any infringement of the right to effective control by each country over its natural resources "is contrary to the aims and principles of the United Nations Charter and hampers the development of international co-operation as well as the maintenance of international peace and security".
127.	Indeed, at its last session the General Assembly spoke out with no uncertain voice on this subject. By adopting resolution 3016 (XXVII) with 102 votes against none, the vast majority of the nations of the world reaffirmed the right of States to permanent sovereignty over all their natural resources, including those of the sea-bed and the marine resources of the superjacent waters.
128.	This basic principle has since been reaffirmed by two other United Nations bodies, first by the Committee on Natural Resources at its third meeting in New Delhi last February, and then by the Economic and Social Council at its fifty-fourth meeting, last April and May, in resolution 1737 (LIV).
129.	There need therefore not exist the slightest doubt that it is the will of the United Nations that nations enjoy full sovereignty over the marine resources of the continental shelf and the sea-bed area far beyond the old 12-mile limit. And it behoves me to draw attention to the fact that such resource jurisdiction is precisely what the Government of Iceland has promulgated through the adoption of our 50-mile fishery limit last year in partial implementation of our 1948 Continental Shelf Law. We have, therefore, acted in complete conformity with the tenets proclaimed by the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly regarding permanent sovereignty of States over their natural resources. Indeed, the adoption of resolution 3016 (XXVII) by over 100 States is an implied recognition by the international community of extended fisheries jurisdiction over the continental shelf waters.
130.	In resolution 3016 (XXVII), it is furthermore declared that all actions by States aimed at coercing other States in the exercise of their sovereign rights over their coastal resources are in violation of the Charter.
131.	A year ago  I drew the attention of the General Assembly to the dangerous situation which already then prevailed in the waters around Iceland, where my Government had adopted fishery limits of 50 miles from the coast. It is with great regret that I now must report that the situation not only has not been improved but has greatly deteriorated. It has been intensified through continued British trawling in the area under the protection of British vessels of war. These vessels of war, furthermore, operate in co-operation with British military aircraft surveying the area and reporting to the war vessels the position of Icelandic coast guard vessels. The war vessels have repeatedly ignored international rules of navigation and rammed our coast guard vessels. This constant and hostile behaviour has already led to the loss of human life. And, obviously, such a state of affairs is not only intolerable now, but could easily lead to further serious consequences. My Government has continuously protested against these warlike activities and demanded that the warships be withdrawn immediately. But so far that request has fallen on deaf ears. My Government has informed the British Government that if these activities continue, we will feel ourselves obliged to sever diplomatic relations. In view of our traditional friendship with the British people, I sincerely hope that this measure will not become necessary.
132.	I want to emphasize in this connexion that my Government, before the extension of the fishery limits, indicated its willingness to negotiate a practical interim arrangement which would meet the problems of the British trawler industry because of the extension. Negotiations for this end had in fact led to considerable progress in finding a solution when the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom was sent to the area. The British point of view is that this was necessary because the British trawlers fishing within our limits were being harassed by our coast guard. The coast guard was in fact to a very limited extent trying to prevent illegal fishing within our fishery limits, which were respected by all nations other than the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany. I want to make it clear that we are still negotiating with the Federal Republic of Germany for a practical arrangement for their trawlers and it seems that a satisfactory solution is now in sight. We have already concluded agreements with Belgium, Norway and the Faroe Islands for continued fishing for a limited period by a specified number of their vessels under licence. Until we had concluded these agreements, our friends from Belgium, Norway and the Faroe Islands respected our 50-mile limit and stayed outside.
133.	In fact, no fishing vessels from any country other than the United Kingdom have continued fishing inside our limits under the protection of vessels of war. Only the British trawlers have done that, and are still doing that. This I have to report to the General Assembly of the United Nations today.
134.	This unfortunate state of affairs shows the urgent need for avoiding any unnecessary delay in convening the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Therefore, I want to use this opportunity and this occasion to summarize the views of my Government with regard to that urgent matter.
135.	The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction has devoted much time and effort to the preparation of the Conference and its report will soon be discussed in the First Committee of the Assembly. Under the terms of its resolution 3029 A (XXVII), the Assembly decided to review at this session the progress of the preparatory work of the Committee and, if necessary, to take measures to facilitate completion of the substantive work for the Conference and any other action it may deem appropriate. In the same resolution, the General Assembly decided to convene the first session of the Conference at New York for a period of approximately two weeks in November and December 1973, for the purpose of dealing with organizational matters. It was also decided to convene the second session of the Conference for the purpose of dealing with substantive work in April and May 1974. My Government attaches great importance to the observance of this schedule or at least to avoiding any unnecessary delay.
136.	The argument has been advanced that further preparatory work is required since the sea-bed Committee has not been able to produce draft articles for the Conference. In the view of my Government it must be kept in mind that the sea-bed Committee has worked on the basis of consensus. No voting took place on the various proposals submitted. It was, therefore, never to be expected that uniform draft articles could be produced by the Committee. On the other hand, the Committee has thoroughly discussed all the problems involved and alternatives are available on most issues. Perhaps the number of such alternatives might be reduced through further work, but that work could just as well be performed by the Conference itself. This problem will, of course, be further examined and discussed in the First Committee, but I repeat that, in the view of my Government, it is of the utmost importance to avoid any unnecessary delay in convening the substantive phase of the Conference, although we would not be opposed to a short delay of two or three months for the purpose of further preparation, if that is generally considered useful.
137.	Fifteen years have passed since the 1958 United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Neither that Conference nor the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea of 1960 was able to solve the problem of the extent of coastal jurisdiction. Since then the progressive development of international law has been rapid, and it should now be possible for the forthcoming Conference to proceed with its work on the basis of the alternatives and consolidated texts already available. A great deal of work has been done in order to clarify the issues, and certainly the major problems are evident and ripe for treatment at the Conference.
138.	The international sea-bed area is the common heritage of mankind and it must be delimited so as to make it a worthwhile concept for the developing nations, and machinery must be established with sufficient powers and functions to ensure the practical implementation of that concept. Valuable texts dealing with these problems are available.
139.	The problems of pollution and scientific research must be solved in the light of the valuable work of the sea-bed Committee. The important problems of islands, archipelagos and land-locked States also have been discussed at length. Within the confines of a relatively narrow territorial sea of up to 12 miles, the problems connected with straits used for international navigation should not be insurmountable.
140.	The obsolete system of dealing with coastal jurisdiction over resources in terms of a territorial sea designed for military purposes is now replaced by a functional solution in terms of an economic zone, beyond the territorial sea, of up to 200 miles, which already enjoys overwhelming support in all regions of the world. Certainly the concept of the exclusive economic zone is quite compatible with the right of navigation. Freedom of the seas has for a long time been used as an argument to protect the special interests of the powerful maritime nations, including their distant-water fisheries. That idea has now been replaced by the principle of the protection of the vital economic interests of the coastal States in their natural resources. This is clear from the positions of States in the preparatory work for the Conference, in which the representatives of 90 States and observers from 30 States-120 States in all — participated. And after all, it is the practice of States and their policy declarations that are mirrored in customary international law. It is now the task of the Conference to codify that practice.
141.	The Icelandic delegations to the sea-bed Committee, on 5 April 1973, submitted a working paper which reads in part as follows:
"A coastal State may determine the extent of its exclusive jurisdiction and control over the natural resources of the maritime area adjacent to its territorial sea.
"The outer limits of this area shall be reasonable, keeping in view the geographical, geological, ecological, economic and other relevant local considerations, and shall not exceed 200 nautical miles."
142.	Other delegations have made similar proposals and it is now clear that the concept of an economic zone of up to 200 miles enjoys ever-increasing support from all regions of the world, as evidenced by proposals and policy statements from a great number of States in all regions of the world — Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Latin America and Europe. This progressive development has reached such proportions that it will not and cannot be stopped.
143.	The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea has had its work facilitated by years of tireless preparatory work. Its own work must now start and it must proceed with confidence and courage to ensure the success of the great task entrusted to it.


1.	I am perfectly aware of the world situation by which we are all deeply impressed in these hours and days of our life. I also know perfectly well that the Security Council of the United Nations is seized of this situation and within a few minutes will hold its meeting.
2.	I prepared my speech — if you will excuse me saying so — last week, and when I got the new information regarding the Middle East I wondered whether or not I should change my speech. I decided not to change it because I think that the basic factors of the international situation are the same today as they were a few days ago. But nevertheless I wish to quote Article 51 of the United Nations Charter because the Arab States in the Middle East should be conscious of the measures and of the possibilities contained in that Article:
"Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken
measures necessary to maintain international peace and security."
3. On the questions and problems of the .Middle East, since 1967 several new decisions have been taken by the Security Council and the General "Assembly. These resolutions did not make it possible to free the territories occupied by Israeli forces after the 1967 aggression, and since the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council were not strong enough to free the occupied territories and to restore the rights of the Palestinian nation, the Arab States, on the basis of the Charter of the United Nations, and mainly on the basis of Article 51, therefore have every right to make every possible effort to liberate their territories.
4.	I am not informed of how the activities in the Middle East were started and what results are being recorded for the time being. But I wanted to emphasize that, under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, the Arab nations have every right to free their territories by all means at their disposal. And I must add that it is in the records of the United Nations General Assembly that the Hungarian delegation expressed this view several times during previous years. Therefore, it is not the present situation which gave me the idea to quote Article 51 of the Charter.
5.	In spite of the present situation, I think that we have the right to speak about the improving international situation. I say "improving" because when we speak about improvement in this case we have to compare the actual situation with what could happen — that is to say, against the background of the danger of a thermonuclear war.
6.	I think one is justified in saying that in the present world situation there are three main questions that occupy the nations. First, in what sense can we talk about an improvement in the international situation? In what sense are we justified in saying that we are experiencing a detente in the present world situation? Second, are the changes that we are experiencing today in international life lasting changes, or only superficial phenomena? And third, what should we do to make the present world situation more favourable and to secure the good results that we have obtained so far, and what should we do to attain even more favourable results, in the Middle East and all over the world?
7.	I have listened very carefully to all the speeches that have been delivered here and have even studied them, and in the knowledge of those speeches I wish to explain the views of the Hungarian Government regarding the present world situation.
8.	Hungary is a member of the International Commission of Control and Supervision in Viet-Nam. Therefore I begin with answers to these questions that have arisen through the Viet-Namese situation in particular, and by the situation in Indo-China in general. I do so not only because Hungary is a member of that Commission, but mainly because the situation in Viet-Nam provides the most understandable answer to problems of the world situation that we are experiencing today.
9.	What we are now experiencing — and I speak on behalf of a Government that is represented on the Control Commission in Viet-Nam — is a certain illustration of the world situation as a whole, and I think that the statement which was drafted last week was fully justified even by the events in the Middle East today.
10.	In co-operation with the other members of the International Commission of Control and Supervision, the Hungarian Government considers it one of the principal tasks of its foreign policy to promote the full enforcement of the cease-fire Agreement, written and signed in Paris on the Viet-Namese question, and its transformation into genuine conditions of peace in Indochina. This is our main task in our international activities and it is no easy one.
11.	To that end we have to take into consideration several questions. How was the truce arrived at? What is the function of the International Commission of Control and Supervision and of the participants of the twelve-Power Paris conference? What could be done for a better solution and, finally, what kind of international cooperation, including possible assistance on the part of the United Nations, is necessary to normalize the situation in Viet-Nam and in Indo-China in general?
12.	The truce in Viet-Nam was brought about by the four belligerent parties for reasons of their own, and its observance depends on the understanding and cooperation of the four belligerents in the first place.
in an illegal state. The full legal conditions of its functioning are still non-existent today. The International Commission of Control and Supervision relies for its existence and functioning upon a single source of law: the Paris Agreement of the four ex-belligerent parties. That is the only source of law, and it provides that the Commission can function only when its four members act together. Owing to the fact that Canada felt justified in withdrawing from the Commission, and that the new member, Iran, was able to replace it only recently, the functioning of the Commission was interrupted for several months.
16.	Second, the functioning of the Commission has already been inconsistent with the rules laid down in Paris and, in spite of Iran having taken the place of Canada, this continues to be so for the time being. The fact is that, according to the basic source of law, the Commission can function only together with the Four-Party Joint Military Commission of the signatories to the Paris armistice Agreement, that is to say, in co-operation with the Government of Saigon and the Government of the revolutionary forces of South Viet-Nam. But since, pursuant to the Agreement, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the United States of America ceased to be members of the Joint Military Commission, the other two signatories, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Viet-Nam and the Saigon Government of South Viet-Nam, ought to have started co-operating in the framework of a two-party Joint Military Commission. This is a very important point in the situation in South Viet-Nam. This has not yet been done. Consequently, the internal situation in South Vietnam makes impossible the functioning of both the International Commission and its control teams.
17.	Third, the failure of the arrival of international assistance is also hampering the realization of the plans of normalization envisaged in the Paris Agreement. That Agreement has three Viet-Namese signatories. It involves three Viet-Nams. One of the three, the Saigon Government, maintains a permanent mission to the United Nations here in New York. But the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Viet-Nam are denied this possibility. This circumstance hampers also the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the normalization of the situation in South Viet-Nam.
18.	International assistance is very much needed in Viet-Nam. It is needed in the economic field, of course, but what we have to urge here in the General Assembly of the United Nations is political assistance from international sources for the implementation of the armistice Agreement on Viet-Nam.
19.	What are the arrangements of the Paris Agreement that call for international assistance? They are as follows.
13.	Both the observance of the truce and its transformation into genuine peace will also in the future depend primarily on the four signatories, but they need international assistance. That is why the four of them together invited the present members of the International Commission of Control and Supervision to take part in the work of the Commission. They invited us. It was for the same reason that, again, the four signatories together proposed the convening of the twelve-Power International Conference on Viet-Nam, held in Paris in January of this year.
14.	In the present situation something is wrong both with co-operation among the signatories and with international assistance also. This situation involves serious dangers, and its consequences can be incalculably grave.
15.	First, the International Commission of Control and Supervision was paralysed for months; I might say it was
1 Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet-Nam, signed at Paris on 27 January 1973.
20. First, the three Viet-Namese signatories should be given equal treatment internationally. If the Saigon Government is represented here by observers, then the other two signatories should also have such representation here in New York. If for any reason this is not feasible and they cannot obtain the right to be represented here, then in that case the representation of the Saigon Government should be terminated at the Headquarters of the United Nations. I think this is an issue that should be considered also by the International Commission of Control and Supervision in Saigon, and it is the intention of the Hungarian delegation to put some such proposal on the table of the Control Commission. The provisions of the Paris Agreement cannot be enforced in South Viet-Nam if its principles are undermined here in New York in the name of the United Nations.
21.	Second, it is clear that for reasons that are well known, the question of Viet-Nam does not fall within the competence of the United Nations because the relations of the Organization with the parties interested in the question of Viet-Nam remain unsettled. The Act of the 12-Power Paris International Conference on Viet-Nam was signed by the participants, as stated in the instrument, "in the presence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations". This was preceded by long negotiations in Paris, carried on day and night. Those most directly concerned in this matter saw in this a significant stand in favour of the United Nations. The attitude of the United Nations towards the question of Viet-Nam depends to a great extent on the assistance that Member States of the world Organization can provide in carrying out the plans envisaged in the Paris Agreement. The possibilities for the United Nations depend on this question.
22.	Third, we have to insist that the formation of the Two-Party Joint Military Commission in South Vietnam should enable the International Commission of Control and Supervision to function. Taking note of two Governments of South Viet-Nam does not mean creating three Viet-Nams instead of the existing two. Some people think that our proposal has as its end the creation of three Viet-Nams. Our position is as follows. The recognition of two Governments of South Viet-Nam does not mean the setting up of two South Viet-Namese States. The measures necessary for constitutional life will be introduced under the direction of a council which could be created by the two new South Viet-Namese Governments, by the National Council of National Reconciliation and Concord created by the two South Viet-Namese Governments, which will provide the necessary foundation for a genuine constitutional life in South Viet-Nam. The outside help needed for this purpose is to encourage the three Viet-Namese contracting parties to comply with the agreement signed by them in Paris.
23.	The world owes much to the Viet-Namese people because in the current international situation, even with knowledge of the news on the Middle East, we are sure that there is a possibility of removing the danger of a new world war. This situation, which is favourable in spite of very threatening news, was prompted and prepared by the victorious activity of the Viet-Namese people. Subsequently, we have to pay a tribute to the VietNamese nation and we have to help the Viet-Namese nation in creating such a situation for itself in which a normal and peaceful life is possible. The Viet-Namese people have made an enormous sacrifice for the
attainment of the present world situation. It is now the duty of all peoples and Governments in the world —  whatever their attitude and role may have been during the war in Vie'-Nam — to offer their co-operation in the implementation of the Paris agreements for the sake of the Viet-Namese people and the peace and security of the world at large.
24.	As it was by a sharp turn that the possibility of the truce in Viet-Nam became apparent, so did the possibility of detente in Europe arise. In 1969 and in the early part of 1970 it was still inconceivable that representatives of the two German States would sit together in this hall. Later in 1970, on the other hand, the well-known treaties and agreements came about one after another.
25.	Since 1969 the countries of Europe have travelled a long, long road towards institutionalizing their peace and co-operation. The second stage of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe is now taking place in Geneva. The best advice for its progress is provided by the experience and lessons drawn from the negotiations held thus far. These lessons are the following, culled from the experience of Europe.
26.	First, countries of other continents should be kept informed of the state of the European negotiations and intentions concerning international policies. The institutionalizing of European security is in the interests of all other continents in the world. This is so from the economic, political and security points of view alike.
27.	Secondly, we in Europe must not forget that there is an interdependence between the problems of Europe and those of other continents. As the settlement of the question of Viet-Nam and the relaxation of tensions in Europe were mutually beneficial, so progress in the work of the European Conference will help to promote the settlement of the Middle East problems and, vice versa, the solution of the Middle East problems will help European States to settle their own problems.
28.	Thirdly, persuasion, understanding and compromise have helped us so far to progress in the affairs of detente in Europe. We argued patiently with one another, trying to persuade each other. We came to an understanding wherever it was possible. We accepted compromise solutions where total accord was impossible. Considering the diversity of the participants in the European Conference, their differences in social conditions, historical background, geographical situation and specific interests, there are many questions in Europe to which only compromise solutions will be possible in the future as they were only possible in the past. If some now insist on rigid formulas and wish to force them upon others they will block the way to real progress.
29.	Fourthly, progress requires at least a minimum of mutual trust. In the case of such deep-seated contradictions as exist in Europe a minimum of mutual trust there between countries and Governments means mutual realization of the coincidence of essential interests. Any action that disturbs the evolution of such a minimum of confidence can slow down progress. So those who wish to
place talks on the reduction of armaments before political detente are like the peasant who would put the cart before the horse. First we have to proceed with the Conference on co-operation, namely, to lessen political tensions and create a minimum of confidence. Then we can discuss military questions on their merits. Today's balance of military forces in Europe, among other things, explains the state of quiet in Europe. We do not let it be disturbed by ill-considered and ill-conceived actions. Those who perpetuate the remnants of the cold war period — the notorious international radio stations and other propaganda agencies — to serve the purposes of international reactionary organizations while speaking at the European Conference about the free movement of persons and ideas are suspect from the point of view of the creation of mutual trust. The socialist countries took the lead in urging the convening of the European Conference, in stepping up tourism and in pressing for East-West co-operation in the scientific, artistic and cultural fields alike. We think that what is most essential to the strengthening of confidence is to increase industrial co-operation between East and West, in Europe and all over the world. The experience of history shows that commercial ties can go with the wind if international relations become tense and peoples are separated by conflicts. But industrial co-operation — co-operation in production and in general joint production schemes —  can better withstand and resist the adversities of the tensions of the international political situation.
30.	It is probably correct to refer to the world situation by saying that either a series of security systems will be created in various continents, or that the life of our generation will be plunged into a thermonuclear catastrophe. The idea of such a plan has emerged recently particularly in connexion with Asia. Taking into consideration all that is now happening in Asia and in the Middle East, including the growth of the international importance of certain nations in Asia and including Siberia, Mongolia, the two Koreas, China, Indo-China and so on, it can be supposed that the coming years will provide an opportunity for the preparation of an Asian security conference.
31.	At first there was much opposition to such an idea in Europe also, but finally the situation in Europe became ripe for the idea to be put into practice. The idea may still seem illusory today to many in Asia but the peoples of Asia, singly and collectively, may soon become aware that they can profit by the bilateral and then the multilateral talks on the preparation of an Asian conference on co-operation. There are already favourable signs which appeared after the war in Viet-Nam and the war on the Indian subcontinent. According to all indications, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are coming near to a solution of their common problems. We hope Bangladesh will soon see the obstacles removed and be free to join in the work of the United Nations. New possibilities can be explored by the negotiations between representatives of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Seoul authorities.

32.	Japan can play a very important part especially on the Pacific coast of Asia, in improving international relations. Japan is the only country in the world that has
already been given a taste of the destructive force of atomic war. With the very fast development of Japanese industry and of the Japanese standard of living, Japan has become extremely sensitive to changes in international relations. Japan is interested in detente and can see that rising tensions are harmful — and may become more so. For this reason there is every justification for looking forward to increasing participation by Japan in international activities.
33.	It is the Middle East that gives the least clear evidence of any change for the better in international relations. Nevertheless — and in spite of recent happenings — there are indications that a period of change may be opening up — and perhaps the present series of events in the Middle East may contribute to such a new era. You may remember what we heard last year in the General Assembly regarding Viet-Nam and Europe — in much the same way as we are now hearing what is going on — when by a sudden turn the adversaries came to see the necessity of co-operation. A similar situation may come to pass in the Middle East also within a few weeks or a few years.
34.	What are the indications of finding a solution in the Middle East? They include, first, the unity and the cooperation of the Arab Governments are improving — and this is a very important factor in the Middle East; secondly, the unrealistic policy of the Government of Israel becomes more and more isolated and is clashing with world opinion. The Assembly knows how many times warnings have been expressed in this United Nations building asking the Government of Israel to pay heed to Security Council resolution 242 (1967) — but these proposals were never accepted. We hope that that resolution will be accepted by all who are directly interested in the Middle East.
35.	In the matter of detente or no detente the United Nations has good reason to devote special attention to the growth of the international importance of the non-aligned countries, particularly now, a few weeks after the Fourth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries that was held in Algiers.
36.	President Boumediene of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, as host of the Conference, in his appraisal of that historic event declared: "The veritable atomic bomb consists of the thousands of millions of the peoples of the third world". Political declarations like this have to be understood and explained in general as the speaker has meant those expressions. It is clear that President Boumediene has meant to liken the strength of the non-aligned countries not to the destructive and devastating force of the atomic weapon, but to a force effective against the danger of any new war.
37.	The role of the non-aligned countries is indeed of immense historical importance from the point of view of international peace and security. As up to now these nations have had a great part to play in changing the international relations, for in the future they will play a still greater role in improving international contacts. The vast majority of the non-aligned countries consists of those nations which, after tens or hundreds of years of colonial oppression and exploitation, have won
independence in the past 10 to 20 years. The appearance o these countries in international life was of great importance and it was of great help in liquidating the cold war and in improving international understanding. These countries have changed the international atmosphere, among other things, by helping here in the United Nations, and outside it, to divert attention from invented problems of the cold war and to concentrate on really fundamental problems of contemporary humanity.
38.	The participants of this large-scale Conference in Algiers dealt with every essential question of international life. The Hungarian Government followed the Conference with great attention. It is reasonable that at this year's session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, this Conference, its purport and importance, should be recalled not only by those who attended it, but also by those who are attentive observers of the manifestations of the Conference and their international repercussions. All burning questions of our day, from the liquidation of the vestiges of colonialism to the new problems of the law of the sea, were under consideration and discussion either in the framework of the general debate of the Conference, or in its commissions, or in its resolutions, or in the interventions of heads of State.
39.	There were some who described the Conference as the peoples' coming of age. Those peoples of full age gave forth a sensitive response to the events in Chile. It is very interesting to know what had been said in Algiers regarding the problems of Chile. The Foreign Minister of Chile had taken part in the preparation of the Conference, but President Allende was no longer in a position to leave his country because, conscious of his responsibility, he wanted to meet the impending challenge and attack of the plotters. News of the murderous attempt against Allende in Chile reached Algiers in the closing hours of the Conference. The international reception of the events in Chile was well described by the 12 September issue of the Algiers daily EI Moudjahid, which in its summary of the results of the conference in Algiers wrote this about the Chilean tragedy:
"A few days ago 2,000 million people, through their representatives, sent from Algiers their greetings to the Chilean people struggling for its future. The third world, assembled in our capital, in Algiers, welcomed the victories won by that Andean people under President Allende's leadership. At the same time it expressed its anxiety about the intrigues plotted by outside forces against this original experiment aimed at the liberation of man. A few days after this message of solidarity had been issued, bombs were dropped on La Moneda Palace and President Allende is dead."
40.	Since that time we know how much of the tragedy of the nation of Chile has been experienced. I have to salute the President of the present session of the United Nations and the Secretary-General for having felt the need to intervene in Santiago, Chile, concerning the fate of many patriots of the Chilean nation. It is in this international atmosphere that the Chilean people has to suffer from the chaos produced by the assassinations. Since the functioning of its diplomatic mission in Chile had been
made impossible, the Government of the Hungarian People's Republic decided to suspend Hungarian-Chilean diplomatic relations. For the first time in the history of mankind, the countries of Latin America are now truly taking part in the moulding of international policies concerning the destiny of the whole world. The people of Chile cannot be debarred from this either. Time and the development of international relations work, and will work, for the triumph of Chile's democratic traditions.
41.	In Algiers the representatives of the non-aligned countries decided to hold their next conference at Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1976. It is conceivable that by the time of the Colombo conference considerable progress will have been made, with the assistance of the United Nations, both in the liquidation of the vestiges of colonialism and in the settlement of the economic problems of the world.
42.	And we hope that you, Mr. President, will be happy to greet the next conference of the third world in your native land.
43.	At the current session of the General Assembly great attention has been aroused by the proposal of the Soviet Union [A/9191]. That proposal is really worthy of considerate attention because, if carried out correctly and with good will, it may give rise to favourable new occurrences in the fields of disarmament, economic development and international political co-operation.
44.	I begin with the political effect of the Soviet proposal. The proposed joint action of the five permanent members of the Security Council may create better conditions for the co-operation of the five nuclear States in checking the armaments race. If the five great Powers can come to an agreement on the principles of a collective reduction of their military budgets, the political effect of such a step would be of paramount importance for the handling of the questions of disarmament, the continued improvement of international relations, and the consolidation of truly peaceful conditions in international life.
45.	At present, disarmament negotiations take place in three different forms: first, on a bilateral basis between the Soviet Union and the United States; second, at the well-known Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva; third, in the framework of the Vienna talks on the reduction of armed forces and armaments in Central Europe. In all three cases it is a serious problem that all five great Powers are not united in understanding the purpose of those negotiations.
46.	If it now proves possible to take a step forward, the co-operation of the five nuclear States would not only promote these three kinds of negotiations but also facilitate the convening of a world disarmament conference. A conference of this kind held in earlier years, in which the States then Members of the United Nations participated, gave impetus to a more active handling of the questions of disarmament. That is how the Geneva Committee on Disarmament came into being. Now that great progress has been made in the
universalization of the United Nations, a disarmament conference of all States Members of the United Nations could bring forth new ideas about more efficient forms of dealing with disarmament problems. Such an agreement between the five great Powers may also greatly promote the improvement of the political atmosphere by increasing the confidence of small States that such cooperation is possible.
47.	The economic consequences would, of course, only gradually appear: first, to the extent that the five nuclear States come closer together; then to the extent that other countries follow the example of those five members of the Security Council. But the proposal shows by itself that as international political tensions are lessening, so it becomes possible to contemplate releasing the resources absorbed by armaments, resolving burning international economic problems, and tackling questions involving the very subsistence of the human race.
48.	A question of fundamental importance is whether the detente of our days is a lasting one or only temporary. If it is temporary, then it is time to prepare for new conflicts, as is being done in the Middle East. We in the Hungarian Government, mindful of the basic factors underlying the present international situation, and keeping them in the background of all present-day events, are of the opinion that we may prepare for a lasting improvement in the international situation, including the situation in the Middle East. The durability of detente is demonstrated, as a matter of fact, in this debate, and even in the debate regarding Middle East problems. There were only a few statements here that did not reflect the real intention of improving international relations. I wish to mention only one of those speeches, mainly because I think we may draw some very positive conclusions from the content of those negative speeches.
49.	As the Chinese proverb goes, "There is a good side to every bad thing". The Chairman of the Chinese delegation, in his statement [2137th meeting], did .not make a single proposal for actually improving the international situation, for the development of cooperation between countries, or for the solution of problems of the developing world. He disparaged everything that can today be called an improvement — for example, if someone looks at the world situation in a human manner. He has extolled everything that is bad in the world situation today; finally, he demanded that the United Nations be made more effective, stating at the same time that the years since the restoration of the rights of China in the United Nations have brought great disappointment to the People's Republic of China.
50.	The Hungarian People's Republic is one. of those Member States of the United Nations which for years and years have consistently argued here in this hall and in several committee rooms of the United Nations against enforcement of the unjust resolutions adopted against China by United Nations bodies. We were always with China in this respect. It is strange that now it is that very same China that indiscriminately demands the enforcement of United Nations resolutions. I think that the representative of China should read the resolutions
which the United Nations passed against China. As a member of the Security Council, the delegation of China, making use of the right of veto, has up to now prevented the admission of Bangladesh to the United Nations. Yet here, in the General Assembly, it advocates the revision of the Charter which also granted the right of veto to China. These last few years have been a disappointment to many, especially because one of the permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations, during the years of its membership, has put forward in this Organization not a single constructive idea or proposal, only intrigues. The United Nations records bear evidence of this fact for anybody to read. They also show that the Hungarian delegation has always joined forces with the countries which made every effort to restore to China its rights in the United Nations. Those efforts have been crowned with success. The delegation of the People s Republic of China is present in the United Nations. Despite bitter experience we do not regret what we did here for the sake of the People's Republic of China. It was justified because we feel sure that the bitter experience of the past few years will prove to have been a passing phenomenon and that China will be a constructive Member of the United Nations.
51.	Besides, the current improvement of the general international climate is usually disparaged by those who have contributed nothing towards it and who hold the naive belief that they will benefit by international tensions. Such negative manifestations against the improvement of international relations cannot effectively influence the work of the General Assembly — that is the good side to this bad thing. Hopes for an improvement in the world situation — in the Middle East, in Asia, in Latin America and in Europe — are so strong and overriding that such antiquated ideas are passed over by the General Assembly.
52.	There are weighty reasons why I am speaking in such a way. International relations today are such, and the consequences of armed conflicts are so disastrous, that all countries, regardless of their social systems, are equally interested in an amelioration of the situation leading to international co-operation. Of course, this realization can only gradually come about and many obstacles have to be removed beforehand.
53.	No doubt the first to come to that realization was the Soviet Union. I could cite also many other examples from the history of the Soviet Union and the socialist countries, but since it was the Twenty-fourth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1971 that gave the most comprehensive summary of the steps to be taken in the present state of world affairs, I shall refer to that in the first place. Although this reflects the position of a Party Congress, very many countries today, regardless of their social systems, endorse the programme of peace formulated by it. It is clear from that Soviet programme of peace that the Soviet Union, despite all difficulties, wishes consistently to improve its relations with all countries and to. offer its international cooperation in the definitive elimination of the danger of thermonuclear war.
54.	With new initiatives in its foreign policy, the United States has accepted also, as a programme point, that after the confrontations it must embark on consultation.
55.	France has played an historic role in the realization that after the cold war following the Second World War, a period of co-operation must emerge for independent countries with different systems. The slogan a "European Europe" was a French definition, and was the expression of a new historic necessity in Europe.
56.	If the United Kingdom could stop raising problems concerning the "smaller Europe" and pay attention to European Europe, and to the most important questions in international life today, it would be beneficial not only to the United Kingdom but to all of us.
57.	Now for the first time the Chinese people live in a united national State. It is only a matter of time before Taiwan will also find a way to settle its relationship with the mother country. The requirements for the advancement and prosperity of the great masses of the people of China also make the People's Republic of China interested in easier international relations.
58.	That is what I wish to say with regard to the five permanent members of the Security Council, on the one hand, because their co-operation is decisive for the future of the United Nations, and on the other, because I spoke earlier about the relevant interests of the two German States, India, Japan and other countries.
59.	The Hungarian Government believes that despite all difficulties and obstacles, the current movement for improving international relations will continue. That movement has been brought about by such fundamental causes as will help us to co-operate successfully in making the improvement in the international situation a lasting one.
60.	Great tasks lie ahead of the United Nations. Expectation is growing in connexion with the increased efficiency of the United Nations. This hope is encouraged by the admission of new Members, first of all the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany. If it proves possible to rectify the mistakes committed earlier in the name of the United Nations, as is expected in the case of Korea and Indo-China, then the United Nations will have greater possibilities in the Far East. There is a growing desire to make better use of the possibilities opened by the existence of the United Nations for the settlement of international issues.
61.	Finnish-Hungarian talks were held recently between representatives of two nations having many things in common in their heritage and their history but with different social systems today. At the invitation of President Urho Kekkonen of the Republic of Finland, the First Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, Janos Kadar, paid a visit to Finland. The joint declaration of the two statesmen on international questions had this to say about the United Nations:
"Both sides consider it necessary to promote the full
implementation of the principles laid down in the
United Nations Charter and to support the world Organization in the just settlement of international problems."
It is a statement of two representatives of two States Members of the United Nations having different social systems.
62.	The Hungarian People's Republic, together with other States Members of the United Nations, is interested in the relaxation of international tensions, in the solution of problems in the Middle East and in the strengthening of peace and security. For those very reasons, we take part, both within and outside the United Nations, in every international action which promises to improve international relations, to make what is called detente a genuine and irreversible relaxation of tensions and a real solution, by negotiation, of controversial issues.


 Every five years, to the pleasure which each of us has of commencing our contributions to this debate with congratulations to the President, there is added a special measure of satisfaction as we pay a tribute to one from our own region who has assumed the high office of the presidency of this Assembly. So is it for me today. The mature wisdom and erudition which characterized his many years of devoted work as Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations have justly earned Ambassador Benites the respect and indeed the affection of his colleagues both in the Latin American group and in the general councils of this Organization. That respect and affection, no less indeed than the experience which he brings to the presidency, will serve to assure him of the support of the entire Assembly even as they inspire us all with confidence in the success that will attend his term of office.
2.	As one of his Vice-Presidents for the twenty-eighth session, may I assure him even more personally of the unswerving support and assistance which he may, with confidence, demand and expect from me and from my delegation.
3.	And to his predecessor, Mr. Stanislaw Trepczyriski, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, who guided our twenty-seventh session with wisdom and efficiency and whose conduct of the business of the Assembly earned him the respect of the international community, may I extend the gratitude of my delegation and of my country for the service he has given to the furtherance of the objectives of this Organization?
4.	For Guyana, as for so many other Member States, the commencement of the twenty-eighth session was overcast by the shadow of developments in the Republic of Chile — a member State of our Latin American community with which we have had close and fraternal relations. I take, therefore, this early opportunity in the work of the Assembly to pay our tribute to the memory of the late Dr. Salvador Allende, whose tragic passing deprived not only Chile but all the developing world of a courageous champion — a champion whose aspirations were the aspirations of the third world and whose valiant struggle the struggle of all within it who demand social and economic justice.
5.	Many of the early hours of the session have already been occupied with congratulations to the three new States Members of the Organization-sentiments, of course, with which my delegation has been associated. I hope I may be permitted, however, a special word of welcome to our sister Caribbean State, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, which joins this Organization as its one hundred and thirty-fifth Member. The Bahamas is linked to the English- speaking States of the Caribbean by those enduring bonds which a shared historical experience has wrought. That experience has moulded of these Caribbean States, including the mainland States of Guyana and Belize, a geopolitical community which accepts a destiny with a Latin American broadened to encompass it and which promises to make its own enriching contribution to the region thus enlarged.
6.	The Caribbean Community and the Caribbean Common Market, that were inaugurated on 1 August of this year, embody those perspectives. It is a time of progressive change throughout our subregion and it is in every sense a propitious time for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to embrace the opportunities of independence and to join the family of the wider international community.
7.	The welcome accession of the Bahamas to independence and its admission to this Organization serve to remind us also of those territories of our region that still remain to find fulfilment through self-determination. The impediments that strew their path are not merely the traditional ones; they are both different and various: they range from fear of aggression in one case to concern over viability in others. For these, at least, the impediment is not that of a metropolitan overlordship reluctant to relinquish dominion. In securing the completion of the processes of decolonization in the Caribbean not only the States directly concerned and those of us who share a destiny with them, but also this Organization itself, will need to be mindful of those special problems-will need to be vigilant lest an illusion of decolonization be allowed to displace the reality of self-determination.
8.	The Caribbean Sea has been a cradle of imperialism. When we divest the region, as we must, of the last remnants
of European colonialism, let us be certain that we have banished colonialism in all its forms, and let us be certain that we have not merely substituted a new hegemony for that which is passing from the scene. My delegation will not hesitate to speak out against any such development which retards rather than advances the march of the peoples of the Caribbean within the integrity of their several societies towards the dignity of nationhood.
9.	And let us remember that the admission of a new Member State such as the Bahamas is no less the fulfilment of the principle of universality because it is the result of the process of decolonization; for the principle of universality itself is frustrated when societies that have a right to advance to the status of nationhood in the international community are. for whatever reason, denied' the right to political independence as sovereign States, Correspondingly, the denial of the right of self-determination of peoples must also be recognized as an impairment of the principle of universality and an injury to this Organization itself, whose strength derives from the fulfilment of that principle.
10.	In common with the rest of the international community my delegation applauds the admission of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. This Organization is immeasurably strengthened by their membership, and the community of Member States — which is, after all, the community of mankind-is much more real now that they will exercise their not inconsiderable influence and make their important contributions within, and not merely outside, this Organization.
11.	But my delegation would like to look upon the admission of these two great European States as symbolic of even more than the advancement of the principle of universality. With their admission, the international community has broken free of that bondage to the past which the realities of a war-time experience imposed upon this Organization-perhaps inevitably imposed-even as, through the Charter, those realities gave the Organization life. With the decisions on the admission of the German States, those articles of bondage have passed into obsolescence and have been denied their capacity to stifle the growth and frustrate the achievement of the objectives of the Organization. This subordination of the past to the principles of the Charter and to the present and future demands of international organization must surely be the real significance of the momentous decision made in that respect.
12.	Is it then too much to hope that in thus freeing ourselves from these particular constraints of memory we may have released a greater potential for creativity than has hitherto been manifest? Is it not possible that by this act of realism we may have finally liberated ourselves from the psychological chains of the era, now long past, which moulded tills Organization? The answers are important, for those chains have shackled more than the principle of universality; they have, in important respects, cramped the effectiveness of the United Nations system and stunted the potential of multilateral organization for securing a peaceful, just and habitable planet. There is a pressing need for release from these several restraints as the international community pursues the objectives of the Charter.
13.	In the introduction to his report on the work of the Organization [A/9001/Add.l], the Secretary-General has rendered a notable service to Member States in speaking out with clarity and with courage on these basic issues: on international goals and the effectiveness of the machinery through which we pursue them; on the needs of our human society and the strength and quality of our will to secure them; on the essentiality of reappraisal and the inevitability of fundamental adjustment. We would do well to take heed of the. grave warnings which that report signals. Against the backdrop of widespread public disillusionment and disenchantment with the United Nations, the Secretary- General alerts us to the fact that time is not on our side, that we need action, innovation and determination, no less than thought, criticism and idealism "if mankind is not to be overtaken once again by the destructive side of human nature" [A/9001/Add.l, p. I.J He records-and this we all know to be the truth-that some of the mechanism provided in the Charter for achieving the aims of the Organization "has not proved workable in the rapidly changing world situation"; that in the area of international peace and security "the United Nations-and especially the Security Council — has often been frustrated"; that on the economic and social side the integrated response required to interrelated contemporary problems "is often hard to achieve through the international machinery set up for far more limited purposes over a quarter of a century ago"- institutions created in 1945 which "no longer correspond to current needs"; that these challenges of change will not be met "through ritual public statements of approval and support" [ibid.,, p. 2} but by a continuous effort of assessment, of adjustment and of development of new machinery and methods; that, above all, there is need for Member States to examine with care and imagination not merely the United Nations system but their own attitudes, their own assumptions, their own goals and their own machinery.
14.	These are serious warnings, and this Organization owes it to itself and to the peoples of the world in whose name and for whose welfare it exists to pay them the respect we know they deserve. The Secretary-General has expressed the hope that his observations might provide the basis for constructive debate on the present state of the Organization and some of its problems for future development. My delegation can think of no higher purpose that this general debate could serve than that it should provide a positive response to this invitation and that the dialogue thus begun should carry over into the work of the twenty-eighth session, so that the reality, and not merely the rhetoric, of assessment, of adjustment, of action, of innovation and of constructive development may inform our deliberations and decisions on specific issues.
15.	Whether the Assembly will respond thus positively, indeed whether the Assembly will respond at all, to the Secretary-General's call for fundamental reappraisal will depend in large measure on the attitudes of the developed countries-among them many of the founding Members of the Organization-to the basic premise of its existence, namely, the validity of multilateral international organization as the most effective means of ensuring man's survival on a planet that sustains him in an environment of peace. I say "the developed world", because it is still the case that for the greater part the developing countries, despite their disappointments with the functioning of the United Nations system, are unequivocal in their commitment both to its objectives and to their attainment through making the Organization more effective.
16. But whereas the disillusionment of the third world leads to a resolve to perfect the machinery of the United Nations, the disenchantment of developed Member States- of West and East-tends to lead them away from international organization and in the direction of a world society responsive not to the genuine consensus of mankind but to the dictates of a contemporary, albeit transient, power. There are, indeed, occasions when it is hard to resist the conclusion that some Member States tend to see positive value in a United Nations system that is petrified, quiescent and ineffectual — a facade of international organization, an illusion of international consensus, masking the reality of an operational power structure.
1 7. For so long as these tendencies persist, progress along the road which the Secretary-General's report has illumined will be slow and halting. It must, therefore, be a major part of the purpose of the third world to convince the developed States that — although the United Nations is far different today from the organization they envisaged at San Francisco; although international peace and security must now be considered in the context of a world situation far different from that with which they were dealing when the Charter was drawn up; although on the economic and social side such urgent present-day issues as the environment, natural resources, population, outer space and the sea-bed, were but small clouds on the horizon 28 years ago-the realities of contemporary international life do indeed give renewed validity to the concept of international organization.
18.	And we must convince them also that it is in the interest of all States — rich and poor, developed and developing, the militarily strong and the defenceless weak, primary producer and industrialized alike-to make the United Nations an effective instrument for reaching by consensus, and implementing by joint resolve, those decisions which are essential for the survival of every State and every man.
19.	A General Assembly that has finally consigned to obsolescence the concept of "enemy States" must surely be capable-and at what time more propitious than this?  — of an acknowledgement that over a wider area of the structure and working arrangements of the Organization the time has come for a similar accommodation with contemporary reality and for a similar resolve — and for action in implementation of that resolve — not to hamper the effectiveness of the Organization by an attachment to forms and concepts and attitudes that have lost their relevance and validity.
20.	What is the alternative to such an accommodation? One consequence of the continued decline of the effectiveness of the Organization must inevitably be an erosion of the support of those who still remain committed to improving its effectiveness in the belief that such improvement is attainable. It is a mistake for any to believe that the United Nations can for long retain credibility and integrity, and . therefore support, while condemned to a state of inertia in important areas of international concern.
21.	But, of course, the consequences go well beyond a further decline in support for the Organization. The United
Nations is the forum, the only forum, in which mankind must seek agreement on the basic arrangements for his continued existence on the planet. Without the United Nations or without a United Nations Organization which is credible and effective — for it amounts to the same thing —  the alternative to international consensus is international confrontation. There are already signs that this is the direction in which we are moving.
22.	The developing world can have no a priori interest in a policy of confrontation. That is why at the level of economic justice we kept faith for so long with the International Development Strategy formulated for the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)] with rolling phrases to redress the several inequities of under-development. That is why we put behind us the disappointment of the First United Nations Development Decade and were ready to renew effort and expectation in the unfolding of the Second. But the developing world cannot live on promises with performance for ever deferred. It must look to its survival.
23.	The aspirations and hopes that were centered in the International Development Strategy have been thwarted — in some cases by the plain disinterest, in others by the active pursuit of the vested interests of the developed world. The confrontations of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development have for the third time yielded little. The biennial review of the International Development Strategy now in progress [item-46] has already disclosed that the cause of development has lost momentum, due mainly 10 the failure of the developed countries to honour their commitments under the Strategy. Economic crises, especially in the international monetary system, have reduced still further the limited benefits which have flowed from dwindling aid and shrinking and uncertain trade. The average rate of economic growth of developing countries has actually declined, and even the modest beginning towards narrowing the gap in living standards between developed and developing countries stipulated in the Strategy is not yet in sight.
24.	To what has all this led? It ha:; led, in the first place, to a loss of faith in the International Development Strategy and, because that Strategy is the product of the United Nations system, it has served to diminish the faith of the developing world in. that system itself — certainly in the system as at present organized and operated.
25.	Secondly, it has led to the recognition that relation ships between the developed and the developing worlds are not likely to alter significantly within the framework of the present international economic system; that it is not just the case that some nations are rich and others are poor, but that the two conditions are inextricably linked together, that some nations arc rich because others are poor, and that the existing system of economic relations between States serves to perpetuate the imbalance.
26.	Thirdly, it has led to an appreciation that an essential mechanism for improving the prospects of real development for the third world is a massive, programme of economic co-operation among developing countries at regional and interregional levels. It was this appreciation that led to the formulation at the Georgetown Conference of Foreign
Ministers of Non-Aligned Countries a year ago of the Action Programme for Economic Co-operation, a programme which has now been further concretized and given a renewed mandate by the Fourth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned States recently concluded at Algiers.
27.	It will fall to the President of Algeria, President Boumediene, as the Chairman of the Algiers Conference, to convey to this Assembly the over-all results of those consultations. Let me say, however, with respect to this particular matter of economic co-operation between developing countries-since it is one for which Guyana has been entrusted with specific responsibilities by the Algiers Conference-that we will, with the authority of the States members of the movement, be approaching the appropriate institutions of the United Nations system for all necessary assistance in the development of global programmes of action for co-operation between developing countries in the important fields of trade, industry and transport.
28.	As this interregional project in its conception and objectives derives from the ideals enshrined in the Charter itself it is clearly right that it should be executed with the support, and within the framework, of the United Nations system, Indeed, given that involvement, its global significance and its potential for improving the conditions of the developing world can help significantly to ensure that this Organization remains relevant and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the greater part of mankind. As the Secretary-General indicated in his remarks to the Algiers Conference, the United Nations has already given assistance in this matter. We look forward, with confidence, to continued support from the Organization in these efforts of collective economic security which have become so necessary a supplement to the faltering International Development Strategy.
29.	Finally, the total experience of recent years has brought home to the developing world a lesson which has relevance for all States. It is the lesson of interdependence at two levels: first of all, of interdependence among the various international economic issues-of monetary policy, of trade, of investment, of the environment, of the sea-bed and the ocean floor; and, no less important, the lesson of interdependence among all countries, rich and poor alike, These lessons have been well learned by the developing States, and they have already begun to inform their conduct in the area of international economic relations.
30.	If these lessons were to inform also the conduct of the developed States, there is no reason why the United Nations could not become an effective instrument for installing a new and more equitable international economic regime founded on consensus and operated with a perception of man's community of interest.
31.	But if these lessons of interdependence, if these concepts of interrelationship, are not acknowledged and respected by the developed world, there is a grave and present danger that we shall move to new levels of confrontation in the area of economic relations, confrontations which will increasingly and inevitably range beyond the scope and competence of the Organization.
32.	The world's racial crisis has already advanced to this point not because of a lacuna in the objectives of the United Nations, but because of the failure of Member States, in varying degrees of delinquency, to respect decisions of the Organization and to subordinate a narrow national interest to the more permanent values of human dignity and the self-determination of peoples.
33.	The record in the field of disarmament is not dissimilar; and here also concepts of a balance of power, like myths handed on unquestioningly by one generation to another, continue to erode the principles of collective security to which the Charter is wedded, and to contract what should be a dialogue of all men into a dialogue of a self-appointed directorate. Once again, it is in another place, not here in the councils of the world community, that this issue, vital to man's survival, is debated.
34.	But as with the cirsis of race and decolonization, so with disarmament. When the debate shifts from the United Nations it enters a no-man's-land where order and legality have no sway and from which there is no return save back to the machinery of international organization. And this is where we are at — if I may use the contemporary idiom to describe the contemporary scene — this is where we are at in the area of international economic relations.
35.	It is said that the spirit of detente is at large in the world today. But how pervasive is its presence? How pervasive is its influence? An easing of international tension is always welcome and all mankind is the beneficiary of it. Those who have contrived the present detente have rendered a distinct service to our time. But let us not be unmindful of the reality of its current manifestation. It is not, in fact, little more than a strategic detente which leaves untouched — at this state at any rate — a whole range of festering issues and several levels at which contest and confrontation continue?
36.	It is true, also, that within the developed world there is a new thrust towards global consciousness, a sense of the interrelatedness of issues, a perception of the finiteness of the planet, an urgent concern for the preservation of the environment and the world's resources of fuel, of food and of raw materials. But Such insights, alas, are still all too frequently conditioned by the particular interests of the developed world.
37.	The result of all this is that the advance of the major Powers to contact and communication has so far issued in only a limited dialogue which excludes the majority of States. Thus the recognition of the interrelatedness of economic issues is reflected in the search for new arrangements for management of the international economic system; but, as in the case of the international monetary system, the new arrangements are devised to operate still in the primary interest of the developed world and pay only token regard to the conditions of other States. Especially significant is the diminished concern for the problems of underdevelopment as the developed world increasingly looks inward. Indeed, it is almost as if the dialogue of detente is crowding the problem of under-development off the agenda of the developed States.
38.	The super-Powers must forgive us if we do not seem enthusiastic enough about the detente they have achieved. It is not that we are unmindful of the value of an accord that enables them to speak in unison in this Assembly on those matters that concern them both. It is that we continue to yearn for their support in unison in this Assembly and outside it for those causes that concern our very survival.
39.	It is surprising, therefore, that some 60 heads of State or Government were personally assembled in Algiers less than a month before this session of the Assembly commenced, an assemblage never before achieved in the annals of international consultation, including the deliberations of the United Nations itself? And it is to be wondered at that it was to economic issues that these leaders of nearly one half of the world's States gave special attention, and that it was upon action to achieve economic change that they Firmly resolved?
40.	The United Nations has no better friends than the States members of the non-aligned movement. To making this Organization more universal and less selective, more democratic and less elitist, more operational and less of an observer, more effective and less frequently frustrated, we are all, and have been always, committed. If this commitment makes us aligned, it is at least an alignment with the deepest purposes of this Organization; it is an alignment with the spirit of the Charter; it is an alignment with the cause of internationalism; it is an alignment that brings strength to the United Nations system, not one which seeks an aggregation of power outside it. That more than one half of the States members of this Organization are so committed should be the occasion for immense satisfaction.
41.	If the major Powers are indeed prepared to move from detente among themselves to co-operation among all nations, from coexistence to community, they will be taking a path which the non-aligned have long charted and upon which we have long been waiting to proceed. Our commitment to the goals of co-operation and community is one of the realities with which this journey of all men and all States can begin, and it is one of the best auguries for its success.
42.	It is time, therefore, that the developed world should take practical steps to ensure that this commitment is not squandered; and, matching it with a commitment of their own, that it should move with conviction and with a sense of realism and self-interest to enable this Organization to make a reality of co-operation and of community, for this Organization must be the instrument of co-operation and these United Nations must be the embodiment of community.
43.	There is, therefore, I submit, no issue before this twenty-eighth session of the Assembly more critical to the future of the United Nations and of international organization generally, or indeed to the survival of the concept of human community, than that which appears on no agenda item but is implicit in each-the issue presented in the Secretary-General's questions: "What kind of world organization do we need? And what kind of world organization are Governments prepared in reality to accept? "
44.	These questions are not being asked by the Secretary-General alone. They are being asked outside these walls by the people of the world, who want to see the United Nations the effective instrument of peace, justice and progress that they believed it to be. The demand for a response is every day more clamant. The question can neither be ignored through indifference nor avoided by circumlocution, nor countered by generalities. It is time that within these walls we provide the answers — all of us — in terms that are clear and positive and unequivocal; in terms that are consistent with the spirit, the aims and the mandates of the Charter; above all, in terms 'acceptable to the people of the world — all the world-in whose name this Organization exists.
45.	And it is time, within this Assembly, and in the specialized agencies and in our bilateral and multilateral relations generally, that we matched our actions to our answers.