I should like to extend sincere congratulations to you, Sir,
on your unanimous election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its
forty-seventh session.

I am especially pleased to see in this high post a representative of
Bulgaria, a country that is linked to Ukraine by geographical and ethnic
proximity and by centuries-old ties of friendship, cooperation and
good-neighbourly relations.
I should also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to your
predecessor, Mr. Shihabi, who made tireless efforts to strengthen the role of
the General Assembly.
We greatly appreciate the contribution that was made to the
implementation of radical transformations in the United Nations by
Mr. Perez de Cuellar, the former Secretary-General. His successor,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has embarked on the course of deepening the
reforms, with the firm intention of enhancing the role and authority of the
Organization, in response to the needs of our time. We will support these
undertakings in every possible way.
The current session of the General Assembly is being held during a period
of profound and truly epoch-making transformations on our planet, which have
included in the formation of a new world order the potential of the new States
built on the ruins of the last empire in the history of mankind.
The disintegration of the bankrupt totalitarian system, resulting in the
largest increase in the membership of the United Nations in recent years,
opened the way for the triumph of genuine freedom and democracy in vast areas
of Europe and Asia and for the realization of the inalienable right of peoples
to self-determination and has made it possible to place human rights at the
focus of the policies of many newly emerged States.
The people of Ukraine demonstrated through the centuries its firm desire
for independence and its aspiration to a national, political and economic

renaissance. For hundreds of years Ukrainians' drive for freedom was subdued
by giving them miserable pittances or by the use of violence and repression.
But today, for the first time, our people have set out on the path leading to
the temple of independence, and no one will ever make our people deviate from
that historic path.

In August of this year we solemnly marked the first anniversary of our
independence. That pivotal event in the life of our people was celebrated as
the triumph of democracy and freedom. And today we are facing a task of great
proportions: to build a democratic Ukraine governed by the rule of law, to
revive the strength and intellectual potential of our people, to be worthy of
the memory of our ancestors who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for
independence.
The fresh winds of change make it necessary to take a new look at the
Charter of the United Nations, to activate fully its enormous creative
potential and to free international relations from the burden of suspicion,
hostility and the renewal of violence. The shortest way to that goal is
through international relations based on common sense and on respect for
freedom of choice, in keeping with the centuries-old principles of
international law which are clearly understood, widely recognized and
consistently applied.
As early as the seventeenth century the celebrated Spanish theologian and
philosopher Francisco Suarez observed that although States are not combined
into a single political body, they are obliged to help one another and to
maintain and defend law and peace, since that is imperative for the benefit of
all mankind. A State that violates the law and disregards international
agreements is thereby undermining the foundations of its own future
tranquillity.
The same vital philosophical ideas were also expounded by
Hryhory Skovoroda, a Ukrainian philosopher, writer and thinker of the
eighteenth century who stood for purity in public order and who inspired
belief in the inevitable triumph of truth and justice.

We attach great importance to strengthening the role of the United
Nations in settling conflicts and resolving disputes. Although the threat of
total military confrontation has receded, the tragic developments on the
territory of former Yugoslavia, in Nagorny Karabakh, in Georgia, in the
Dniester region and in other areas give us warning that local conflicts are
fraught with serious danger.
We believe that joint efforts by the international community can
eliminate the deep-rooted causes of these conflicts, which are linked to
unresolved national issues, to irresponsible appeals for the review of
existing State frontiers, to economic hopelessness, to political egocentrism
and to the messianic ambitions of some States seeking to create zones of their
own special interests in certain parts of the world. The task of the United
Nations is to establish a structure for interaction that would guarantee the
security of every Member State.
Our country can contribute to the attainment of that goal. In the year
that has passed since the proclamation of our independence, Ukraine has
traversed the road from a quasi-State within the former USSR to a universally
recognized European State. Having joined the leading international political,
humanitarian and monetary-financial institutions, our country has assumed full
responsibility for securing its own foreign-policy interests and its external
economic interests.
Without claiming any special status in the world, we want to occupy a
place in the international community worthy of our people, our history and our
potential. We can make and we want to make a constructive contribution to
international cooperation.

Ukraine welcomes the changes in the political and military structure of
Europe, where we are seeing the key role in maintaining peace and stability
shift from military deterrence to political mechanisms. These changes have
ensured the success of the process of the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and the possibility of shaping a new security
model on the continent based on close interaction between the European
States. I would like to emphasize that the orientation towards Europe is one
of the main driving forces of our foreign policy; we intend to intensify the
dynamics of our relations with European States and with their regional
structures.
We intend to pursue a serious, pragmatic and result-oriented policy with
respect to the United Nations. That is why the Ukrainian Parliament decided
to send a military contingent to take part in the United Nations peace-keeping
mission in the territory of former Yugoslavia. Today Ukrainian soldiers are
continuing to do their duty with honour and dignity in that suffering land.
Their mission has won universal support and recognition.
The transition of the contemporary world to a system of global
integration, multipolarity and partnership demands the creation of a new
concept of strategic stability based on a substantial and balanced reduction
of existing arsenals of weapons to the dimensions of reasonable sufficiency
for defence. The results achieved so far in bilateral efforts to limit
armaments should be supplemented by new multilateral agreements, whose
universality would provide the necessary level of confidence, strengthening
trust in their implementation.

We welcome the completion of the convention on the complete prohibition
and destruction of chemical weapons. For Ukraine, which does not possess,
produce or stockpile chemical weapons in its territory, signing the convention
is one of the priorities in the field of disarmament.
The question of eliminating all nuclear weapons is of fundamental
significance for us. We are convinced that, with a well-adjusted system of
collective security based on the Charter of the United Nations, it will be
possible to prevent any aggression or, if necessary, to suppress it through
joint efforts.
Ukraine, which suffered the full effects of the Chernobyl disaster, is
supporting with even greater determination the international campaign for the
complete renunciation of nuclear testing and for the assumption by every
nuclear-weapon State of an obligation not to be the first to use nuclear
weapons.
Simultaneously with its proclamation of independence, Ukraine opted to
become a State possessing no nuclear weapons. Of course, Ukraine is not the
only country in the world which has chosen non-nuclear status. But our
uniqueness lies in the fact that we voluntarily took on the burden of
eliminating hundreds of strategic and tactical nuclear warheads inherited from
the USSR, a choice which has huge financial implications.
Having set out on the path of reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons,
we count on strict international guarantees of our national security against
the possible threat or use of force by any nuclear State. I should point out
that this is by no means a rhetorical question for our newly independent
State, and we consider it in our own special context. Naturally, we count on
understanding for our position.

Ukraine intends to accede in the very near future to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; it will place all its nuclear power
plants and all fissionable materials under the supervision of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
We actively support the idea of creating a nuclear-free zone in the Black
Sea basin. As is known, in the agreement between Ukraine and the Russian
Federation, signed on 3 August of this year at Yalta, the two major Black Sea
States officially declared the desirability of pursuing a policy aimed at
making the Black Sea a nuclear-free zone and a zone of peace and cooperation.
We regard the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe as the most
important element of a new security system in Europe. The entry into force of
the Treaty will make it possible to accelerate the process of European
disarmament, to remove the remaining imbalances in armed forces and to
eliminate unpredictability from the military and strategic situation on the
Continent.

The successful conclusion of negotiations on reducing the numbers of
military personnel and on implementing the provisions of the Vienna Document
on Confidence- and Security-building Measures opens new opportunities for
strengthening stability in Europe. Together with other European countries, we
welcome the conclusion of the "open skies" agreement as an important step
towards mutual trust in military activities.
Against the background of definite changes for the better in the area of
arms limitation and disarmament, issues of strengthening international and
regional stability take on special importance.
Ukraine greatly appreciates the contribution made by the United Nations
to the settlement of conflicts in the "hot spots" of the planet and its
endeavours to restore peace to the Balkans and to normalize the situations in
Cambodia, Cyprus, Central America and southern Africa.
The experience acquired in this sphere proves that the most efficient
actions are preventive actions aimed at lessening tension before it is
transformed into open conflict between the opposing parties. The use of the
methods of preventive diplomacy must become a priority feature of United
Nations activity today. We support the ideas of the Secretary-General in this
regard and the pragmatic proposals set forth in his report "An Agenda for
Peace" (A/47/277).
The normalization of the situation in the Persian Gulf, with the direct
participation of the United Nations, is facilitating the intensification of
efforts aimed at settling the Arab-Israeli conflict. Ukraine believes that a
constructive dialogue on this problem at the current session of the General
Assembly can foster the process of forging specific agreements that started in
Madrid.

Ukraine welcomes efforts aimed at stopping the violence in South Africa,
and calls upon the Government and the representatives of all political forces
in South Africa to continue resolutely the process of peaceful settlement.
A few words about Ukraine's economic situation. The imperial system
completely exhausted Ukraine's economy and unbalanced our economic
mechanisms. Ukraine inherited a predominantly obsolete technology, a backward
infrastructure, the burden of foreign debt, a lack of skilled managerial
staff, low living standards for the population and galloping inflation.
However, we are convinced that independence, the development of democracy and
juridical institutions and the implementation of far-reaching political and
economic reforms will enable us to weather the transition to a market economy
without critical social upheavals during the transition period and will create
the necessary conditions for the integration of Ukraine into the system of
world economic relations.
In carrying out the tasks before us, we must rely primarily on our own
strength, on the talent and industriousness of our people. But at the same
time, we greatly appreciate outside support for our efforts: foreign
investment, and the furnishing of financial and advisory assistance and
expertise by the most developed countries of the world and by international
organizations.
We call for concerted action to overcome the consequences of the
Chernobyl disaster, a tragedy unprecedented in the history of mankind, and for
joint efforts by various countries in solving the complex and unparalleled
problems it caused. We hope that the present session of the General Assembly
will yield solutions appropriate to the scope of that tragedy.
Our economic difficulties, the foreign debt inherited from the former
Soviet Union and the Chernobyl factor make it impossible for Ukraine to meet

fully its financial obligations to the United Nations. However, I wish to
state that this problem is constantly being given attention by the Parliament
and Government of Ukraine.
At the same time, Ukraine cannot agree to a merely mechanical approach to
the question how the contribution of the former Soviet Union is to be
apportioned. We strongly object to the decisions taken at the last session of
the Committee on Contributions that, contrary to the existing criteria,
recommended increasing Ukraine's contribution for the next year by over
50 per cent. We shall strive for a radical revision of the system used for
formulating the scale of assessment, bringing it into conformity with the
present-day realities, levels of development and ability to pay of Member
States.
The pressure of economic problems is naturally bound to influence the
social situation in our country. However, our efforts to promote respect for
international standards in the field of human rights and protection of the
interests of national minorities were instrumental in avoiding ethnicity-based
conflicts in Ukraine. At the same time, we understand the concerns expressed
from this rostrum regarding "discriminatory practices", against Ukrainians and
all other non-indigenous nationalities, which are growing stronger in some of
the new States that have emerged in the territory of the former USSR. We hope
that all States in whose territory Ukrainians reside will demonstrate genuine
concern and consideration for their cultural, linguistic and religious needs.
That hope was voiced with full force in the statements of the
participants in the World Forum of Ukrainians, which recently brought to Kiev
thousands of representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora, who had been forced to
live far from their native land.

At a time when human lives are at stake and people are dying of famine in
some parts of the world, the problem of humanitarian aid should play a key
role in the activities of the United Nations and of its social and economic
organs. Our country, in the light of its own past, is devoting special
attention to this question.
Another humanitarian problem requires special attention because unless it
is resolved, it will stand in the way of strengthening the principles of
civilized relations in international life. I am referring to the question of
prisoners of war. While supporting the steps taken by the new leadership of
Afghanistan in establishing peace and reconciliation in that country, I should
like to appeal to it to do its utmost to ensure an immediate search for and
arrange the unconditional return of Ukrainian nationals who are still being
kept prisoner or are missing in action. At the same time, we call upon all
States in whose territory prisoners of war are being held to make the humane
gesture of releasing the victims of military conflicts. This would also
contribute to the success of the forthcoming World Conference on Human Rights.
In my statement, I have touched upon some unresolved issues that are
preventing us from moving ahead. However, none of these problems, we believe,
can impede the renaissance of the United Nations stimulated by the end of the
cold war and the resulting favourable changes in the world. I can assure
everyone present in this hall that Ukraine is determined to participate in the
work of the United Nations which will continue to remain a crucial element of
our foreign policy, and we will do everything possible to ensure that the
Organization enters the next millennium as an effective instrument in building
a better world.


It was exactly four months ago that for the first time I had the
honour of addressing you, the representatives of sovereign States members of
the global community, in our common House, the General Assembly of the United
Nations. Membership in the United Nations is the crowning international
confirmation of the sovereign statehood of a State,
(spoke in English)
To the Republic of Croatia it meant the final realization of the just
aspiration of the Croatian people to self-determination and freedom, which
that people although one of the oldest European nations succeeded in
regaining only after nine centuries of life in multinational state communities
in which, to be sure, they preserved their national identity and the identity
of their state but did not enjoy internationally recognized sovereignty.
The creation of our independent State was the outcome of the
indestructible moral strength of the Croatian people, based on a firm national
awareness that has burned for centuries as an eternal fire in our hearts. A

nation may have existed from time immemorial, but if it lacks the moral
strength and an awareness of its unique individual being, of its nationhood
and statehood, it will disappear from the stage of world history. The
Croatian people yearned for their State and rallied to achieve it.
In their relatively long history from the seventh century to this very
day the Croatian people have taken pride in authentic testimony in stone and
in the written word to their existence and to their unquenchable yearning for
freedom and for their own place among the nations of the world. It was in
that very spirit that the great seventeenth-century Croatian poet
Ivan Gundulid wrote in his city of Dubrovnik, that jewel of the heritage of
Croatia and the world which in our time has suffered barbaric destruction
his ode to freedom, which starts with the following lines:
"O liiepa, o draoa. o slatka slobodo,.
Par u kom sva blaga vis'n-ii nam Bog je do ..."
Those verses express the eternal faith in freedom that has been granted
us as a supreme gift by the Almighty, a gift man has cherished, lived for and
died for since time immemorial, as an independent, cultured and civilized
being not only as an individual, but also as a member of his people and of
mankind as a whole. Just as the individual wants to live as a free, rational
and unique being, a people can be recognized and appreciated only if it is
aware of itself and of its uniqueness in the world.
The Croatian people had their own independent kingdom in the Middle
Ages. Today they have again achieved full State sovereignty, demonstrating to
the world their deep faith in and allegiance to freedom, their respect for
justice, and their wish for peace and the development of their State within
the international community of peace-loving, equal and independent States.

When it joined the United Nations the Republic of Croatia solemnly
committed itself to respect the principles embodied in the Charter of the
United Nations and the system of values and undertakings on which the global
community is based. On this occasion, let me once again solemnly reiterate
our profound allegiance to the principles of the United Nations.
We are faced with the historical responsibility to establish a new
international order, an order of equality and the protection of the rights of
all States and nations, national minorities and individuals. At the same
time, this poses the challenge of building a world without war, a world with a
healthy environment, a world of progress for all the inhabitants of the Earth.
For the first time in the history of mankind, the conditions have been
created for achieving those noble goals. After the disintegration of the
colonial empires following the Second World War, and after the appearance of
new nations capable of forming States but also of so-called ahistorical
nations on the global scene, we have finally seen the end of division into
blocs and the collapse of numerous despotic regimes throughout the world.
Obviously and by no means accidentally the collapse of such regimes has
been associated and has coincided with the collapse of some multinational
States in which nations were held together through repression by totalitarian
regimes or through domination by single nations.
Human society has entered a period in its historical development of the
overall integration of civilizations, but also of national individualization.
In other words, the world has become immeasurably interdependent in terms of

development, technology, transport, ecology, culture and the exchange of
information, but the number of independent international entities has been
increasing continuously. Reconciling this contradiction imposes the necessity
to seek mediation, and even the firm involvement of the entire international
community, to resolve outstanding and new local and regional crises.

Over the past two-year period, in which Croatia gained its sovereignty,
the United Nations has reaffirmed its fundamental principles and tenets:
peace and democracy as the foundations of international relations. This
Organization has resolutely and efficiently opposed attempts to resolve
international disputes by force or to infringe, through aggressive wars and
the provocation of regional crises, on the right of nations to
self-determination and on the territorial integrity of sovereign members of
the international community. The determined military action in the Gulf war
and the peace operations in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cambodia are
effective proof that the United Nations, with its active role, is becoming
increasingly capable of countering aggression and of bringing about peace.
However, the experience acquired by the United Nations through peacemaking and
peace-keeping operations and in controlling aggression indicates that the
process of international agreement and the achievement of consensus in the
initiation of peace operations is still slow and is not efficient enough.
The Republic of Croatia welcomes and fully supports the activities so far
undertaken by the United Nations to extinguish crises throughout the world,
aware of the fact that a passive attitude or compromise towards the exponents
of aggression and a new deterioration in international relations would be much
more costly and involve substantially greater loss of human life and
suffering. Nevertheless, it is the view of the Republic of Croatia that the
future international peace-keeping activity of the United Nations will have to
be expanded to include adequate preventive diplomacy, peacemaking efforts and
post-war confidence building, precisely in order to keep human suffering and
the danger of the spread of aggression to a minimum.

Moreover, the Republic of Croatia perceives the need to channel the
immediate future involvement of the international community, and thereby the
programmes of the United Nations, along the following main lines of activity.
First, the global economy must pull itself out of the deepening
recession, and then an accelerated development cycle should be promoted,
involving a higher degree of coordination and economic cooperation between the
developed North and the developing countries. Our generation and the global
community would bear a heavy responsibility to posterity if they permitted the
recently ended opposition of East and West to be replaced by new barriers and
a lack of trust between the industrially developed West and North and the
third world.
Secondly, an equally important task of the United Nations concerns the
persistent and firm promotion of democratic freedoms and human rights
throughout the world. This is a necessity because economic and overall
development can no longer even be imagined, much less realized, merely on the
basis of economic categories and criteria; it can be brought about only with
the parallel establishment of human rights and a democratic order encompassing
political liberties and social rights alike.
In this respect, Croatia welcomes the decision to convene the World
Conference on Human Rights in September next year. Croatia will actively
contribute to the preparations for this important - I should say "historic"
meeting, first by resolutely strengthening democratic institutions in our own
country, which has only recently got rid of its totalitarian regime and alien
domination. Moreover, within the scope of the Conference on Security and
Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), Croatia has offered to host the CSCE seminar on
minority problems which, we hope, will be held in the historic setting of
Brijuni Island next May.

The Republic of Croatia resolutely endorses the conclusions of the Rio
Summit, convinced that sustainable development is the proper answer to the
requirements of the global community and to the environmental balance of our
planet. The protection of the environment is an important strategic issue in
Croatia's long-term development. The Gulf war and the war operations in the
former Yugoslavia have posed major threats to ecological systems. Because of
this, the protection of the environment is not only a developmental issue, but
also a major political and security issue.
Last but not least, the future activity of the international community
and of the United Nations should also be focused on in addition to the
effective prevention of aggression as a means to settle international
differences eliminating all sources of crises world-wide in order to
establish a permanent and just peace. This complex task will involve a
painstaking process of agreement and reconciliation of objectively differing
views and interests, taking due account of the limited resources of the
international community. However, the stakes and anticipated results for the
entire international community are so great and historically far-reaching that
they deserve every possible effort and the use of all resources in order to
achieve humanity's supreme goal: permanent peace and general welfare in a
stable international order.
The role of the United Nations has been, and will remain, irreplaceable
in ensuring the rights of nations to self-determination and the civil and
human rights of ethnic communities and minorities. The United Nations can and
must play an important role in controlling changes in societies that are
ridding themselves of totalitarian systems on their way to democratic
political and economic transformation.

In line with such ideas, Croatia has already enacted - in wartime
conditions, and in spite of the aggression waged by the Yugo-communist army
and Serbia and Montenegro and of the externally incited revolt of part of the
Serbian population in its territory a constitutional law on the protection
of minorities that is more liberal than many similar pieces of legislation
anywhere in the world. Croatia is prepared to contribute actively to the
development of an international code and standard for the protection of the
rights of ethnic communities and national minorities, to be used as guidelines
in the development of national legislation and rules for the settlement of
future controversies.
We support enhancement of the role of the General Assembly as a global
advisory parliament and of the Security Council as the body most responsible
for international peace and security. This implies a higher responsibility
for the members of the Security Council, and the permanent members in
particular. We therefore support the initiative to expand the Security
Council with new permanent members, because this would reflect the new global
reality and allow for more harmonious regional representation. We also
believe that the role of the Economic and Social Council in the solution of
problems within its sphere of competence should be strengthened.
Let me take this opportunity to stress in particular that Croatia fully
agrees with the statement of the Secretary-General on regional conflicts as o
threat to global peace and progress, made at the Department of Public
Information's Annual Conference for Non-governmental Organizations, on
9 September. The regional conflicts of our time are no longer comparable to
those of the cold war, when the warring sides represented conflicting
ideologies. Present-day regional conflicts are the expression of purely

imperialist or conquest-minded policies. They are not only the cause of
terrible tragedy - because of the casualties suffered predominantly by the
civilian population, the destruction of property and the displacement of
people from their homes but also a threat to peace in a wider area, and even
globally.

Although one of the main principles of the United Nations Charter entails
non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign States, many current
conflicts occurring within the borders of particular States have shown that
such developments should become the concern of the United Nations when general
human principles are violated and international peace is threatened. As the
Secretary-General has stated with a profound feeling of moral responsibility,
it is the duty of the United Nations to support the dignity of human beings
and to ensure the safety of their lives, regardless of the type of conflict,
be it general, regional or confined to a specific country.
When chaos within a State threatens to bring down civilized and
democratic order, when tyranny crosses the boundaries set by moral standards
accepted by humankind, and when a regional conflict may jeopardize the
foundations of international order, peace and security, the United Nations
must be able to take action. Most States, if not the entire international
community, are also threatened when the existence of a single United Nations
Member is placed in jeopardy. The examples of Cambodia, Somalia and,
unfortunately, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina suffice to confirm the
correctness of this view.
Let me remind the Assembly of the contribution of the struggle of the
Croatian people for freedom to the establishment of the rights of small
nations, to the collapse of totalitarian regimes and to a new democratic
atmosphere in international relations in central and south-eastern Europe.
The awakened-national awareness of east and central European nations made the
major contribution to the dissolution of the totalitarian communist system.
Their struggle against communist socialism, particularly in multinational
State communities, was a struggle for national emancipation and for civil

rights. Initially it was mistakenly understood, and, in some cases even today
it is mistakenly understood, as retrograde nationalism or autarchic
separatism, or has simply been put down as ethnic conflict and struggle for
power.
The processes of regional and worldwide integration on the one hand and
the disintegration of multinational States on the other are only seemingly at
odds. The newly emerged States in the area of the former Yugoslavia or the
former Soviet Union do not aspire to autarchy. It is precisely such countries
that most require purposeful integration and openness to cooperation.
However, within the new post-communist democratic atmosphere small nations
want to preserve their own identity and the right to their own States so that
they may be subjects, and not objects, within the scope of the epoch-making
changes taking place in the modern world.
At the very beginning of the national and political emancipation of the
Croatian people we were aware of the complexities and possible risks
underlying the collapse of the past regime within a multinational State
community. Therefore, we patiently tried to resolve the crisis of the former
Yugoslav federation by political negotiation and by proposing a confederal
agreement in order to avoid war. From the very" beginning we supported the
internationalization of the crisis, and by such an approach we have succeeded
in turning international democratic public opinion to our advantage.
Today, having achieved military and moral victory in the war that was
forced upon our country, we are still ready for a political solution of all
internal and international problems in order that the conditions necessary for
permanent internal and regional stability and cooperation between the newly
emerged States may be created.

The recent just struggle of the Croatian and other peoples for their
sovereignty has contributed to the development of a different attitude towards
the rights of small nations to independence and to their own States. This
unequal struggle has, in fact, affirmed the superiority of the democratically
manifested right to self-determination of nations over the principle of the
integrity of existing multinational States, and in this connection it has also
brought about new changes in international law and international relations.
The position of small or less developed nations and States within the
international order is the key to regional and international stability and
cooperation and to just international relations. Without the confirmation of
their right to State individuality the United Nations would now consist of
about 50, and not 179, Member States. Our recent experience has shown that
stable peace and a firm international order are not possible in the
post-cold-war world without the security and sovereignty of small nations. It
is for these reasons that we believe that the international community is
entitled to interfere in the internal affairs of countries in cases involving
the control of aggression, humanitarian intervention, the protection of the
rights of individuals and of national minorities and the preservation of the
environment, in accordance with the principles of, and through mechanisms
endorsed by, the international community.
Accordingly, we would welcome such a new role for the United Nations, as
well as for such regional organizations as the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), which would guarantee the protection of the
security of all Member States in a process ranging from peace mediation to the
imposition of peace. Without such a role the United Nations could not handle
such crises as the one affecting the former Yugoslavia. The chief

responsibility for international security rests with the Security Council, but
the regional organizations should assume the main burden of implementing
policy, based on United Nations principles. For this reason we support the
establishment of permanent regional military forces capable of rapid peace
mediation and action to prevent conflict or repel aggression.
Furthermore, Croatia firmly supports the Secretary-General's "Agenda for
Peace" and the process of establishing permanent United Nations military
forces. In the post-cold-war world, when regional conflicts present the major
threat to world security, international peace-keeping and peace-making forces
are emerging as the watershed between chaos and stability. Croatia is ready
to participate in these forces and to help to bring peace to troubled areas
around the world.
Had such mechanisms existed, the disastrous Yugo-communist and
Serbo-Montenegrin aggression against Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina might
have been averted. This crisis has obviously reaffirmed the equal right of
all nations, particularly young or small nations, to security and has enhanced
the need to create such mechanisms.
In view of what I have said, we would support the development of a
regional security system in our area, a system that could also serve as a
model for other crisis areas. Because of their geopolitical importance,
ethnic mix and painful historical experience, it is precisely the Balkans and
south-eastern Europe that would necessarily require the development of such a
model of international regional security congruent with the general system of
common security in order that the stability of the global order might be
achieved.

This implies consideration of all steps to bring about
confidence-building and mutual guarantees, the establishment and maintenance
of the balance of power and the creation of security zones and protected
areas, along with the adjustment and supervision of defensive and other armed
forces and doctrines.

In order to achieve stability in this part of Europe, in which the
processes of both stabilization in the Eastern Mediterranean and in
south-eastern Europe and the establishment of stable relations among the newly
emerged States are still to be completed, Croatia is prepared to take the
initiative in convening an international conference of the countries in the
area in order to consider the future model of regional security and
cooperation based on common interests and principles embodied in the United
Nations Charter and CSCE documents.
The Republic of Croatia endorses the coordinated process of regional and
general disarmament and welcomes the results already achieved in
heavy-armament reduction by the big Powers. Croatia is prepared to cooperate
with other countries in reallocating military expenditures to the
reconstruction of war-ravaged areas and to peacetime development.
This concerns in particular the new States which require international
cooperation in the implementation of their democratic and market reforms in
order to bolster their domestic stability. The role and the responsibility of
the international community are to be seen in the light of the fact that these
societies are not strong enough to be able rapidly to become part of the
integration processes. Because of this the speedy integration of new States
into financial and other institutions should be promoted.
We endorse automatic international intervention and other punitive
measures when the territorial integrity of other countries is seriously
threatened. The United Nations should also envisage a way to prevent the use
of military force against the peaceful expression of political will in the
solution of domestic political issues. The brutal use of military force

against one's own people should not in our time be regarded as merely an
internal political problem.
We endorse the establishment of a permanent international court for the
punishment of war crimes and all actions involving the deliberate violation of
peace and international conventions and endangering the lives of the civilian
population.
In support of an open economy and market principles we propose, within
the scope of international development strategies, identifying ways and means
to favour and facilitate the transfer of technology, knowledge and the
necessary resources to less developed countries or countries destroyed by
war. To our mind, it is precisely the United Nations and its agencies that
ought to play an important role in this process. The United Nations and its
agencies ought to take the lead in handling the return of refugees and the
reconstruction of their homes, destroyed cultural monuments, industrial plants
and infrastructural facilities processes that are of particular importance
to our country.
The earliest solution of all issues regarding the succession of States in
accordance with international law is of the highest importance for Croatia and
other States that have emerged in the area of the former Yugoslavia and the
former Soviet Union. In supporting the solution of these issues we are
prepared, especially for economic reasons, to make an additional effort in
order to codify the experience and norms of international law in this sphere.
On this occasion I cannot but add a few words of criticism concerning the
inadequate action by international factors to solve the crisis in the
territory of the former Yugoslavia, more precisely in preventing the brutal
aggression waged by Serbia and Montenegro against Croatia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Croatia appreciates the efforts of the international community -
from the United Nations, the European Community and the CSCE to all those
international factors that have helped us to stop a mindless and most brutal
war waged at the expense of the civilian population before the eyes of the
civilized world. We express our deepest sympathy for the human losses the
United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) has suffered in the Republic of
Croatia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the performance of its
noblest task.
What is really happening there is the sustained aggression of Serbia and
Montenegro, now acting under the new name of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, against two sovereign and independent States Members of the United
Nations - Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unless stopped, this aggression
may mushroom into a conflict on a much broader scale which could spread the
disaster of war to the entire European continent, maybe even to the rest of
the world. Unfortunately, in spite of that situation the global community has
not yet identified a sufficiently efficient mechanism to stop aggression or an
effective way to stop brutal destruction, such as Europe has hardly ever
experienced, associated with the most barbaric form of "ethnic cleansing".
The implementation of the Vance plan, created with the authority of the United
Nations, is also falling behind schedule because of constant Serbian and
Montenegrin sabotage.
The mission of UNPROFOR must be seriously speeded up and fully
implemented within the mandate of the peace-keeping force. Otherwise it will
become meaningless and produce the justified indignation and frustration of
the Croatian people who continue to suffer the consequences of aggression.
Croatian authorities find it increasingly difficult to control the justified
discontent of people displaced from their homes in their own homeland, people
who have accepted the role and the intentions of the United Nations and the
European Community with optimism and the firm conviction that the wrongs they
have suffered would be redressed. These people find it difficult to
understand why the international community cannot show, in this particular
case, the necessary determination that was shown in the instance of an
identical aggression against another sovereign and independent State. The
United Nations must summon the will and the power to use all the resources at
its disposal in order to bring the war in Croatia to a close and to stop the
aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the opposite case, if the
aggressor is permitted to continue to implement his plan of conquest, the
reputation of the United Nations will suffer badly.
Finally, let me express my conviction that the United Nations will fulfil
its historical task. For its part the Republic of Croatia is prepared to
contribute its share in every respect as a full member of the global community.
With the holding of multi-party parliamentary elections for the second
time in the past two years, in spite of the war forced upon the country,
Croatia has severed all links with its communist past and strengthened its
democratic order and international position.
Having committed itself in its Constitution - in political and economic
terms and in all spheres of spiritual and material development - to those
principles of democracy and pluralism which also underlie the United Nations,
Croatia has declared its openness to cooperation with all its neighbours and
other countries in Europe and world wide. Croatia wants to be a factor of
peace and stability in the international order in its part of the world.


May I first. Sir,
on behalf of my delegation and on behalf of the Government and people of
Gabon, convey to Ambassador Stoyan Ganev of Bulgaria our warm congratulations
on his well-deserved election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its
forty-seventh session. His personal qualities and experience in international
affairs undoubtedly guarantee the success of our work.
Our congratulations also go to the outgoing President,
Ambassador Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia, whom we thank for the dynamic and
exemplary way in which he discharged his duties.
To the Secretary-General, whose recent election to head our Organization
honours all of Africa, we should like to reiterate our full support for
everything he is doing to promote preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and
peace-keeping, and particularly the peaceful advent of a new world order. His
great diplomatic experience is a guarantee of the fulfilment of his commitment
to carry out to the best of his ability his delicate and noble mission in the
service of the entire world community.
Finally, we welcome all those new States which have come upon the
international political scene recently. Their arrival, we are certain, will
strengthen the universality of our Organization and contribute to
strengthening the bonds of solidarity between Member States.
Since the end of the East-West confrontation our Organization has been
demonstrating its ability fully to play the role assigned it by the Charter
whenever Member States act collectively. It has demonstrated this
particularly in Afghanistan, Central America, Cambodia, Kuwait and Namibia.

This solidarity should be even more effective in settling other conflicts
which, regrettably, we witness elsewhere.
At the very opening of this session, the situation in Somalia is
particularly disquieting. How can we remain unmoved when we daily see on our
television screens faces bearing the imprint of war, disease and hunger? How
can we remain indifferent to the pain and tragedy of millions of women and
children whose only aspiration is to live in peace in their own environment
and to seek better development?

Is it not indeed scandalous that in our day and age war and the use of
force are still the means preferred by some to settle intercommunity
problems? Undoubtedly, this is a challenge to our collective intelligence.
In Somalia, as elsewhere, in a tremendous upsurge of human solidarity we
must make a collective effort to put an end to the fratricidal confrontations
in order to rebuild trust between communities linked by history and geography
that perforce must live in harmony.
For its part, and particularly in the case of Somalia, Gabon has taken
concrete steps along these lines.
This appeal equally applies to Mozambique, where natural catastrophes
have seriously exacerbated the complexity of a conflict on which discussions
are now under way. In this connection the Government of Gabon very much
valued the meetings in Rome on 7 August and in Gabarone on 18 September
between President Chissano and the leader of RENAMO, Mr. Alfonso Phlakama.
In another region of the continent, the situation in Liberia is also a
matter of grave concern. For two years now efforts to bring about peace on
the part of the Economic Community of West African States have encountered
obstacles despite the presence among the belligerents of 7,000 "White Helmets"
of the disengagement forces of the Economic Community of West African States
Monitoring Group (ECOMOG).
Apart from subregional action, which is highly commendable, the United
Nations has provided welcome aid to the Liberian population.
The international community clearly provides the necessary means for all
those who, despite their own difficulties, are making a contribution to
bringing about peace in those countries.

With respect to the situations in the Sudan, Rwanda, Niger, Mali and
Chad, the Government of Gabon will support all initiatives to bring about a
peaceful settlement of the disputes between members of the same family.
With respect to the situations in the Sudan, Rwanda, Niger, Mali and
Chad, the Government of Gabon will support all initiatives to bring about a
peaceful settlement of the disputes between members of the same family.
It is in this spirit that Gabon has often offered its good offices in the
settlement of conflicts in Africa.
The case of South Africa is of deepest concern to us. Indeed, the system
of apartheid has still not disappeared from the South African political
landscape. To be sure, a few months ago, under unprecedented international
pressure, the Government in Pretoria committed itself to a policy of reform
designed to eradicate this odious system. But for some months now we have
been witnessing an intensification of violence as a means of political
expression. The Boipatong massacre and the Ciskei events are unfortunate
examples which undermine the efforts to promote dialogue, which Gabon and the
international community at large so earnestly seek.
The promises of the South African Government gave some comfort to all
those who want a positive outcome to the situation in that country so that it
can join the comity of nations through the resumption of the Convention for a
Democratic South Africa (COPESA) talks. But nothing at the present time would
allow the international community to relax its pressure nor to reduce its
vigilance with-respect to Pretoria, particularly as our Organization, whose
recent initiatives deserve to be encouraged, is urgently demanding the
application of the principle one-man, one-vote.

With respect to the Arab-Israeli conflict, at the core of which is still
the question of Palestine, the new spirit now pervading international
relations, as well as the desire to reach a diplomatic solution voiced by the
parties involved, are conducive to giving a fresh and lasting impetus to the
peace process begun in Madrid in October 1991 which is currently continuing in
Washington.
How can we remain indifferent to the tragedy we are witnessing in the
former Yugoslavia, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Quite clearly,
what we have here is a major challenge where humanitarian assistance, even
with the help of military logistics, is not sufficient. Gabon, which wishes
to see a speedy peaceful outcome to this conflict, highly commends the leading
role now being played by the United Nations.
Generally speaking, all Member States expect our Organization to play a
decisive role in peace-keeping and in maintaining international security, as
well as in the eradication of poverty and in the struggle against famine.
That is why my country wholeheartedly supports the recommendations of the
Secretary-General contained in his "Agenda for Peace".
If it is to serve its purpose the Organization must restructure its main
organs in the light of the current international situation. To this end, the
political role of the General Assembly and the supervisory functions of the
Economic and Social Council should be further strengthened in order to make
the entire United Nations system more dynamic.
Furthermore, as President Bongo requested from this rostrum, first in
1977, when he was President of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and
then during the fortieth session of the General Assembly, the countries of the

third world should now be represented in the Security Council as permanent
members, in order to make decision making at that level more democratic.
International law is being completely rethought. Hallowed concepts of
yesteryear, such as "national sovereignty", "territorial integrity" and, above
all, "non-interference in the internal affairs of States", behind which the
international community was finding it more and more difficult to hide its
uneasy conscience, are now being given a new normative content.
Hence, for some years now, a new concept has appeared on the
international scene, and that is the "right to interference". It would
appear, a priori, to be contradictory with these very principles of "national
sovereignty", "territorial integrity", and particularly "non-interference in
the internal affairs of States", which underlie peaceful relations among
States.
But to assure that this right is not selective or abused, its exercise
should be the exclusive responsibility of the United Nations. Furthermore,
calling into question certain of these principles is not necessarily a
negative step. That step should be taken whenever these principles themselves
have led to crises.
In so doing, the United Nations could acquire more extended powers, and
hence given the appropriate means, which would enable it to exercise that
right, if need be, without any discrimination whatsoever.
In his most recent report on the work of the Organization, in 1991, the
former Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, wrote:
"No system of collective security will remain viable unless workable
solutions are sought to the problem of poverty and destitution,
afflicting the greater part of the world." (A/46/1, p. 12. VIII)

That is why United Nations action would also stand to gain if it were
similarly strengthened in the economic and financial fields. In this way, it
should continue in the direction it has already taken in order the better to
adapt itself to the new challenges facing mankind.
Economics now has a more prominent place in international relations. The
creation of an increasing number of subregional and regional economic
groupings, as well as the globalization of international trade, have turned
our world into one immense market whose working rules should be equitable.
The international community very quickly realized this requirement for
complementarity and solidarity when, in 1974, it established a new
international economic order.
Similarly, multilateral organizations, such as the European Economic
Community, by creating machinery to regulate world trade, have clearly
evidenced their desire to come to the assistance of the poorer countries by
creating the STABEX and SYSMIN systems.
In the same vein, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) has
advocated for some years now constructive negotiations between producers and
consumers in order to strike a better balance between world supply and
demand. The efforts of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCIAD) are along the same lines.
In this struggle for development, we realize that the United Nations has
taken a number of initiatives, the most recent of which are: the International
Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade, the
United Nations Programme for the Economic Recovery of Africa, the Cartagena
Consensus and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

We can therefore say that, generally speaking, in recent years the world
has progressed to some extent towards greater solidarity among all peoples.
But there are still serious grounds for concern. Despite the progress made on
the debt problem, through the so-called Toronto, Houston and London measures,
the question of cancelling the debts of the least developed countries, and
considerably reducing them for the other developing countries, remains a
burning issue, particularly for the so-called middle-income countries.

Up to now Gabon, which falls into that category, has not benefited from
any of these measures, whereas at the same time it has seen a sharp drop in
its per capita income. It would be in the interests of no one, especially the
international community, if the African countries were to go into a downward
spiral of economic decline and indebtedness. Today everyone knows that the
measures that have been advocated with a view to enabling our continent to
escape from this impasse have, for the most part, proved to be inapplicable
because they are inappropriate. The balance of payments of some of our
countries has been affected by the international monetary system, which
influences international exchanges. Therefore, it is urgent that the
international community give much more backing to the developing countries, so
that they and the African countries in particular may participate in world
growth.
Africa, 70 per cent of whose exports consist of prime commodities, has
been hard hit by the detrimental effects of the fall in the prices of those
commodities, and it faces economic problems in addition to that of
indebtedness. Again, Africa has undertaken a programme of economic reform,
whose results because of the need simultaneously to implement political
reforms and the desire of Governments to achieve consensus in respect of these
programmes - have been very slow to emerge.
For all these reasons the international community should promote action
in three directions. First, it should stabilize, at a remunerative level, the
prices of non-petroleum products; secondly, it should readjust the
international monetary system by rationalizing policy on interest and exchange
rates; finally, it should provide a substantial increase in public aid to
African countries. In other words, we are advocating the creation and

implementation of a sort of "Marshall plan" for the African continent.
Generally speaking, the problem of combating underdevelopment is of central
concern to all of mankind. This is why solidarity should not be selective.
Nor should it be confined to mere declarations of intent the purpose of which
is to ease one's conscience. It should, for example, take the form of a
re-initiation of the process of negotiation on commodity agreements. The
success of this new form of cooperation effective solidarity between
peoples will affect the future of our planet and facilitate improvement of
the human condition.
I am quite certain that no delegation present at this meeting would like
the cold war to be replaced by North-South confrontation. That being the
case, it might seem illusory to pose certain problems albeit major problems
concerning the environment - if, at the same time, solutions are not proposed
for the benefit of those countries that have to exploit their raw materials in
a more or less intensive way.
Let us not be hypocritical. This is a requirement for survival, as was
demonstrated recently at the Rio summit on the environment and, quite
recently, at the summit of non-aligned countries. The conditions that are
necessary for the preservation of the environment, which is the real heritage
of mankind, should not be one-sided. The new concept of international law and
the new international order, to which I have referred already, can be reviewed
and corrected, and should take into account the new terms of world
equilibrium. Otherwise, economic growth and democratic development will be
jeopardized.
Despite the acute nature of the various problems to which I have just
referred, our Organization has a very gratifying record in the political and
diplomatic fields. It should also demonstrate its ability to meet the new

challenges facing mankind today. These include the questions of the
environment, AIDS and drugs. These subjects have introduced a new set of
problems into international thinking, and they require urgent and innovative
solutions. In this connection, the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development has proved correct the vision of solidarity of those who have
always felt that the well-being of nations comes from consultation rather than
confrontation.
That Conference was a striking illustration of the ill-adaptedness of the
economic choices imposed here and there in the world, by comparison with the
resources available on the planet, and, I am quite certain, by comparison with
the real needs of our populations. The fact that this coincided with the end
of the cold war should make development as important a concept as that of
collective security, which has always been one of the main concerns of the
United Nations.
Undoubtedly development was one of the main objectives that the founding
fathers assigned to the Organization, but security needs have pushed
international cooperation in this area into the background. Its reinstatement
should take the form of a crusade against underdevelopment. I should like to
refer here to the concept of sustainable development, which was mentioned at
Rio in connection with my country's rational use of its forest lands. Gabon,
which has long since advanced from the stage of simple harvesting to that of
ecological management of its forest lands, could not fail to adhere to the two
conventions of Sio the conventions on biodiversity and on climatic changes.
Therefore, we shall be very pleased to host, in Libreville in
January-February 1993, the first African meetings as a follow-up to the Rio
Conference, and we extend a cordial welcome to the representatives of
participating States, and wish them a pleasant stay in Gabon.

I should like to conclude my remarks by calling for more solidarity -
solidarity in the settlement of disputes, in international security, in
co-operative relations between States and peoples, in relations between
international financial institutions, and in relations between all our
countries, without discrimination. In his report on the activities of the
Organization the Secretary-General says:
"We need a new spirit of commonality, commitment and intellectual
creativity to transform a period of hope into an era of fulfilment."
(A/47/1, para. 8)
We are talking here about the advent of this new international order a world
that is better and more human, one in which there is real solidarity.


Allow me,
Mr. President, at the outset, to express to you my sincere congratulations on
your election to the presidency of the forty-seventh session of the General
Assembly and to salute your friendly country, Bulgaria. In wishing you
success in conducting the proceedings of this session, it gives me pleasure to
assure you of our readiness to cooperate closely with you in furthering the
Organization's objectives and upholding its principles at a time of rapid
change in the world order marked by an increasingly important role for the
United Nations in addressing world problems is gaining new momentum.
I also seize the opportunity to extend our thanks and appreciation to
your predecessor, Ambassador Samir Shihabi, the Permanent Representative of
the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the able and judicious manner in
which he guided our work as president of the forty-sixth session of the
General Assembly.
It is also my pleasure to voice our appreciation of the efforts of
His Excellency Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the United
Nations during the short period since he took office, both in restructuring
the Organization and in strengthening its role in the maintenance of world
peace and security.
It is gratifying indeed to witness the emergence, this year, of a large
number of independent States and their accession to membership of the United
Nations. The emergence of those thirteen States, is telling proof of the
strength of their people's nationalist sentiments and aspirations, which have
surged with the end of the cold war. My country's delegation has the pleasure
to welcome the new Member States. We are convinced that they will contribute
constructively to the enhancement of the United Nations role and the
furtherance of its goals and objectives.
This session is convened at a time the likes of which the world
Organization has rarely witnessed throughout its history. The winds of change
have swept away the very foundations of an international system which, for
nearly half a century, was based on the foundation of the cold war's
precarious balance of power. The ideological barrier between East and West
has been brought down and, with it, the strategies of nuclear deterrence upon
which the leaders of the bipolar world political order depended throughout the
post-Second World War era.
Our world today is in a state of flux. It is emerging from a past that
is now collapsing under our eyes and is moving towards a future that has not
taken shape yet. Intimations of that future are being brought home to us on
the crests of mighty waves and the winds of heavy storms that have brought
down the Berlin wall, caused the collapse of the Eastern bloc and the

dismantling of the Soviet Union side by side with the many developments and
conflicts we now witness on the international arena.
Although the features of the new world order broke forth sharply in waves
of violent and profound transformations, the winds of change have not been
able to uproot the problems of the cold war. For in the wake of the fall of
certain States, there was the eruption of severe national and ethnic disputes
on which the lid had been kept by the bipolar balance of power. Scrutiny of
the changes witnessed by the world today clearly reveals that the threads of
past and present are interwoven even though developments are taking place so
fast towards the creation of a delicate and precarious balance between the
status quo and change as the new world order unfolds.
The gap between the realities of the present and forecasts of the future
is engulfed in ambiguity and uncertainty at this historic juncture which we
watch with apprehension and with hope and expectation, for it is our
aspiration that man will finally achieve on this planet what he failed to
achieve during the cold-war-era. It behooves us to watch out for developments
and be prepared for them in a manner conducive to the creation of a climate in
which the rights of States, both small and large, are safeguarded, their
security strengthened and a role ensured for each and every one of them in
determining the future course of humanity. Therefore, we should all endeavour
to come to grips with the world in this new stage and identify the role each
of us should play in the formulation of that world's features and the laying
of its foundations. Without such a collective partnership on the part of all
members of the international community, the world will continue to lack
equilibrium and stability and remain vulnerable to upheavals and setbacks that
could undermine the very foundations of the future.

In the context of those international changes, the United Nations has
been able to regain some of its vitality and effectiveness in the
international arena over the past few years. It has exerted commendable
efforts to end the Iraq/Iran war, bring about the liberation of Kuwait, solve
the problem of Afghanistan and bring about the independence of Namibia. Its
efforts continue in connection with the questions of Western Sahara, Cyprus,
Cambodia, El Salvador, South Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Somalia.
The future role of the United Nations should be one that rises to the
level of contemporary international challenges so that the Organization may be
able to influence the course of international politics and deal with
transformations that involve interaction of regional and international factors
and controversies. Consequently, it is our view that the role of the United
Nations should evolve to embrace the following three major tasks:
First, the creation of an advanced mechanism that would enable the United
Nations to carry out the tasks of achieving international peace and security
in a manner that would be compatible with transformations in the international
arena;
Secondly, the creation of a modus operandi for cooperation between the
United Nations and regional organizations in the maintenance of international
peace and security, the peaceful settlement of international disputes and
respect for States' sovereignty and territorial integrity;
Thirdly, adequate development of the role of the United Nations in
dealing with world problems that constitute a common concern for the
international community as a whole and are sources of anxiety to people
throughout the world, such as the problems of development, the environment,
refugees, famine, poverty and a host of other international questions.

The question of world peace and security with its economic and social
roots has given rise to a new multifaceted vision of international security.
Undoubtedly, the overlapping and intertwining of such issues require serious
action on our part to coordinate policies and develop programmes for United
Nations organs so that they may be able to meet changing world needs.
In response to the recommendation by the Security Council in its meeting
at the level of Heads of State and Government, held on 31 January 1992, the
Secretary-General of the United Nations presented his report "An Agenda for
Peace". It contains important recommendations and ideas that aim at
developing the international Organization's political performance through
preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peace-keeping. The concept of
preventive diplomacy is a new strategy based on good forecasting and early
intervention by the United Nations to prevent the eruption of conflicts and to
prevent the escalation to the level of hostilities of existing conflicts.
In this context, we should like to commend the role played by United
Nations peace-keeping operations, a role that has proved to be effective in
containing conflicts, defusing tensions and maintaining peace in various
regions of the world. Since 1987, 13 peace-keeping operations have been
undertaken. It is incumbent upon the international community, especially now,
to bolster and enhance the United Nations financial and operational capability
in this field so that it may be able to maintain its leadership in
peace-keeping, bearing in mind that the cooperation of States Members of the
United Nations is the key factor that would enable those forces to achieve
their objectives and the only guarantee that they will be able to do so.

Peacemaking, peace-keeping, and preventive diplomacy are undoubtedly
interrelated and mutually complementary. We believe that the concept of
post-conflict peace-building introduced by the Secretary-General, together
with the preceding concepts, form an important stanchion of the Organization's
future role in the area of promoting peaceful solutions and preventing the
recurrence of conflicts. In this context, the United Nations can cooperate
with and benefit from the potential and abilities of regional organizations
and arrangements in the peaceful resolution of disputes among Member States,
bearing in mind that most of the disputes that threaten international peace
and security are of a regional nature.
The role of regional organizations in peace-keeping is consonant with the
objectives of the United Nations Charter. It is also called for by current
international developments. And yet, for four decades now, the United Nations
has not been able to benefit from the capabilities of regional organizations
because of the cold war. That cooperation is of singular importance. Its
importance is highlighted now by the aggravation of discord in parts of
Eastern Europe and other parts of the world under the influence of ethnic
sentiments, territorial claims and border disputes. It is in this area that
the United Nations, in cooperation with the appropriate regional
organizations, could use the tool of preventive diplomacy to prevent the
eruption of tragic ethnic conflicts, futile border hostilities, the occupation
by force of other peoples' territories, or the changing of existing boundaries.
In concert with the principles and objectives which we seek to
consolidate within the framework of the United Nations, our responsibility
lies in maintaining the momentum generated by the new international climate of
respect for international legality with a view to achieving stability in

sensitive regional situations, foremost among which is that in the Gulf area.
In this respect, the State of Bahrain reiterates its demand that United
Nations resolutions relating to the situation between Iraq and Kuwait be
complied with.
The State of Bahrain has been following with deep concern the recent
unfortunate developments in the Gulf area as a result of the actions by the
Islamic Republic of Iran on the island of Abu Mousa. While we emphasize the
sovereignty and territorial rights of the United Arab Emirates, our adherence
to the good-neighbourliness principle and our desire to avoid any further
tensions in the area, we call upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to abide by
the memorandum of understanding it has signed with the United Arab Emirates.
For the past several years, international relations have undergone
enormous transformations in the political and economic fields that herald a
pattern of new economic cooperation among countries. There are expectations
that with the end of confrontation between the two super-Powers, the world
will enter an era of fruitful cooperation between States. Yet an escalation
of the confrontation in the economic arena, a widening of the gap between the
North and South, and the prevalence of extreme poverty in a number of
developing countries continue to endanger world security and stability.
Peace and development are the most important foundations of our
civilization at present. It is therefore incumbent upon the United Nations,
which has had about half a century of experience in international
organization, to undertake side by side with the task of peace-keeping, the
task of promoting development in the developing countries. The United Nations
is qualified to be the forum for the elaboration of international development
strategies and the provision of appropriate political impetus for a number of

such interrelated economic issues as the problems of debt, the transfer of
technology, trade, finance, commodities, and the environment. It is thus
essential to reactivate the role of the United Nations in the field of
economic development for the peoples of the world. Although the United
Nations designated the 1970s and the 1980s as the second and third Decades for
development, it has failed to achieve the objectives thereof due to lack of
funds to finance the plan.
If rich industrial countries are to fulfil their global responsibilities,
they ought to respond to the needs of developing countries in terms of
development assistance so that the cold war between the East and West may not
be replaced by another cold war between the North and South or, as the
Secretary-General put it, so as not to erect an iron curtain between the North
and South similar to the one that used to exist between the East and West.
In the light of this situation, the State of Bahrain, as a member of the
Economic and Social Council, a major organ of the United Nations, believes
that the Council's role should be reinvigorated if it is to fulfil its mandate
as provided for in Article 65 of the Charter, and if it is to furnish the
Security Council with comprehensive reports on the economic situations in the
world's different countries. It is clear that if such situations were left to
fester and deteriorate, they may indirectly threaten international peace and
security.
A number of important international conferences have been held this year,
most significant of which ¬ªere the Eighth United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development held in Colombia, and the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development which was held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and
which culminated in the issuance of the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, and other

international agreements relating to environment and development. The Rio
Declaration, with its 27 principles, recognizes the integral interrelated
character of the Earth and links sustainable development to environmental
protection. Agenda 21 reflects a global consensus on cooperation in the areas
of environment and development and aims at addressing urgent problems in that
respect and at equipping the world with the means to rise to the challenges of
the next century.
The fact that these two Conference were held in relatively quick
succession demonstrates the enormous capability of the United Nations to
conduct political dialogue in the areas of development and international
economic cooperation. In order for the United Nations role to be strengthened
in that respect. Member States should provide the Organization with the
wherewithal to enable it fully to perform its mandated tasks. For
wherewithal, read: the political will.
In the midst of international transformations, many peoples look forward
to a secure future for themselves and for their future generations. I must
voice here the hope of my delegation that peace may prevail in the Middle
East. We welcome the signs that may lead to a just settlement of the question
of Palestine in particular and of the Middle East conflict in general. The
rounds of talks, which started in Madrid late in October 1991, have vividly
demonstrated the earnest nature of Arab positions and the commitment of Arab
negotiators to achieving a comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East on
the basis of the land-for-peace formula in accordance with Security Council
resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and other relevant United Nations
resolutions.

It is imperative to intensify international efforts to induce Israel to
forswear its policies of expansion and settlement-building in the occupied
Arab territories, to recognize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian
people, to withdraw from the Syrian Golan Heights, to withdraw from southern
Lebanon in accordance with Security Council resolution 425 (1978), and to
respond to all constructive disarmament proposals which, if implemented, could
bring about parity in military capabilities qualitatively and quantitatively
and ensure security through equal commitments applicable to all Middle East
States, including Israel.
In this connection, I would like to reiterate our support for freeing the
Middle East region from all weapons of mass destruction, and reaffirm our
readiness to deal with the proposed convention on the prohibition of chemical
weapons, to the extent that other States in the region are willing to respond
to international demands by acceding to that convention, to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to the international system of
safeguards and inspections on the basis of equity and equality, in the
interests of the security of all States of the region without discrimination.
The human tragedy that has befallen the Somali people, and the
degradation of their human dignity, call for immediate mobilization of the
concerted efforts of the international community to put an end to that
tragedy. Medical assistance and food supplies should be provided urgently to
save the Somali people from their painful plight. We welcome the United
Nations efforts in Somalia, and are of the opinion that an appropriate
political mechanism should be created to put an end to the bloodshed, to
effect national reconciliation, to eliminate the causes of strife between the
warring factions and to help achieve security and stability in Somalia.

We also wish to express our deep concern over the tragic situation in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose people are the targets of mass annihilation and
human-rights violations. At a time when the world looks forward to the
emergence of a new world order in which peace and security would prevail, we
believe the United Nations is duty-bound to act resolutely to put an end to
this tragic situation and to preserve the integrity of the Republic of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, a State Member of the United Nations.
South Africa, which is going through a delicate phase of its history,
requires special attention on the part of the international community.
Despite the positive reforms initiated last year by the Pretoria Government
with a view to drawing up a new constitution for South Africa, it is urgent
that apartheid be completely eradicated by means of constitutional reforms
guaranteeing the participation of the majority of the people of South Africa
in building a non-racial State. In that connection, we support United Nations
efforts to put an end to violence and to help create favourable conditions for
negotiations on transforming South Africa into a non-racial, unitary State.
The Cyprus problem has eluded solution for a long time. However, there
have been signs recently that may lead to a solution. We welcome the new
positive movements as well as the Secretary-General's efforts in that
direction.
The peoples of the world look forward with full confidence to a new world
in which security and prosperity prevail. Yet, despite our hopes for the
future, threats to the human race and the environment abound. Unless we all
work to overcome those threats and to address their causes, we will be opening
a Pandora's box, releasing all its evils while leaving hope locked inside.

The success of the United Nations in dealing with the new challenges will
depend on its ability to build confidence among nations and, with the help of
a broad creative vision, to mobilize efforts, resources and knowledge with a
view to bringing them to bear on the transformation of world society into a
society in which real security, peace, tranquility and equality may prevail.
If we may liken the desired world order to a ship, then peace, security
and economic development are the canvas of which its sails are made;
international legality is its pennant; and only through stability can it sail
to safety. It behoves us to work together in weaving the yarn to make the
canvas of the sails, and to steer our ship toward a secure future for all our
peoples.


 I am pleased to extend to you. Sir, and to your
country, Bulgaria, the sincere congratulations of my delegation on your
election to the presidency of the forty-seventh session of the United Nations
General Assembly. I have no doubt that under your able leadership this
session will be a great success.
In the short space of time since he assumed office at the beginning of
the year, our new Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has more than
justified the confidence reposed in him and his prodigious qualities and
abilities by his election to the highly demanding office of
Secretary-General. He has been, during these nine turbulent months, more than
a match for the daunting crises that have so far characterized the so-called
new world order. We salute him and his equally dedicated colleagues in the
Secretariat.
The forty-seventh session of the General Assembly is being held at a rare
moment in history. It is a moment so brilliantly captured in the language of
Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, wherein are written
these words:
"The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage ...".
(resolution 217 A (III), article 21, para. 3)
Peoples across the globe are marching triumphantly to seize control of
their own destinies through the ballot. This has been clearly manifested in
the admission of seven new Members during the forty-sixth regular session of
the General Assembly and many more at its resumed meetings. The membership of
those new States enhances the universality of the United Nations. We warmly
welcome their presence in our midst.
The end of the cold war has triggered an avalanche of demands on the
United Nations at a time when the Organization is tottering on the verge of
bankruptcy. The Organization is being called upon to be everywhere where
there is a problem and to carry out activities ranging from peace-keeping and
peacemaking in areas ravaged by civil wars to fighting natural disasters. It
is also required to play a role in areas where democracy is being embraced.
The financing of both the United Nations activities under its regular
budget and its peace-keeping operations has never been more crucial to the
role and function of the Organization. For many years the Organization was
paralysed by ideological confrontation, and it is unfortunate that it should
now be hamstrung in the performance of its functions by financial emergency
and crisis in an era when there is so much good will.
The issue is simple: the machinery of the United Nations cannot be
expected to function effectively and efficiently when it has run out of
financial steam. We can all bear testimony to the success of the United
Nations system when there is a common desire and will to put the system to
work. The assessed contributions have to be paid in full and on time, in
accordance with the Charter. All arrears have to be paid as a demonstration
of our commitment to the process of renewal and revitalization currently going
on in the world and within the United Nations itself.
Botswana has followed with grave concern the tragic events in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the senseless killing and brutality visited on innocent men,
women and children. It is indeed unfortunate that while many States in
Eastern and Central Europe have experienced relatively peaceful transitions to
democracy and political pluralism, the people of the former Yugoslavia, the
founding champion and leader of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, should
be bleeding so hopelessly. Yugoslavia was a critical factor for stability in
Central Europe during the lark days of super-Power rivalry and military
confrontation.
However, we cannot be distracted from present reality by the past. The
international community has been rightfully outraged by acts of barbarism in a
world increasingly characterized by civilized conduct in inter-State
relations. The agreements reached at the London Conference, which enjoy the
overwhelming approbation of the international community, must be implemented
in full by all the parties involved in the brutal conflict. No effort should
be spared in ensuring the restoration of lasting peace in the Balkans.
In South-East Asia, the brave and courageous men and women of the United
Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) continue to work quietly
and tirelessly to bring about peace and stability in that country. It is
hoped that all parties to the Agreement on a Comprehensive Political
Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict will honour their obligations. The people
of Cambodia have long awaited the day when they can return to their homes,
walk in the streets and till the soil without fear of land mines.
The implementation of the peace agreement is a monumental task the likes
of which this world body has never before undertaken. It is vitally important
that the efforts of the United Nations succeed in timely and effective
fashion. A situation in which the United Nations Transitional Authority in
Cambodia (UNTAC) might be marooned in Cambodia, with the financial burden that
would entail, must be avoided at all cost.
The Middle East peace talks which opened in Washington, D.C., on
24 August 1992 and which have now been suspended have given us cause for
optimism. The atmosphere which has been created at the talks augurs well for
serious negotiations for a comprehensive political settlement. We fully
support the process under jay and encourage the parties to the negotiations to
ensure that this historic opportunity is not squandered.
In Afghanistan, it is our sincere hope that the establishment of a
transitional Government will silence the guns, which for 14 years wreaked
death, misery and disaster on innocent civilians and on belligerents alike.
The international community, in particular those Member States that have
strong ties with the parties to the conflict, should bring maximum pressure to
bear on the parties to refrain from resorting to the use of force in settling
their differences.
In Somalia, a human tragedy of unspeakable dimensions is unfolding before
our very eyes. According to a report of the Secretary-General contained in
document S/24480 of 24 August 1992, famine threatens the lives of 4.5 million
people. On a daily basis, many are dying a slow and painful death. It is
regrettable that the response of the international community was painfully
slow at the beginning of the tragedy. However, there were, and there continue
to be, men and women whose devotion to humanitarian service and reverence for
human life are unparalleled in their quality and dimension. The International
Red Cross was there when no one else was. Its dedication to alleviating human
suffering is truly extraordinary. The great son of a Lutheran pastor and 1952
Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Dr. Albert Schweitzer, once said
"There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common
good is the greatest creed."
The Red Cross deserves our gratitude and commendation.
In equal measure, we commend the efforts of the Secretary-General in
securing the agreement and approbation of the parties to the conflict, in the
face of immense difficulties, so that humanitarian assistance could reach the
suffering people. We also welcome the decision of the Security Council to
deploy an additional 3,000 observers in Somalia.
In South Africa, at the time of their suspension three difficult months
ago, the negotiations conducted within the framework of the Convention for a
Democratic South Africa (CODESA) had undeniably achieved positive results. A
substantial degree of consensus had been achieved within a relatively short
time, considering that less than two years ago the apartheid edifice was still
very much intact, barely shaken, and prospects for change in South Africa were
as bleak as they could be. Now, we have seen what the three-month hiatus has
wrought more massacres as brutal at that at Boipatong, which caused the
break-up of the negotiations in June. The recent one at Bisho in the
Bantustan of Ciskei, however, seems to have had a sobering effect on the South
African leaders. If anything at all, these massacres have shown that
negotiations are the only hope for South Africa, and it is with a sigh of
relief that we welcome the resumption of the negotiation process.
We welcome the keen interest the world community has shown in the South
African crisis, as evidenced by the adoption by the Security Council of
resolution 772 (1992) of 17 August 1992. The involvement of the international
community in the process of change in South Africa is a very crucial element.
It is our sincere hope that the United Nations observers mentioned in
operative paragraph 4 of that Security Council resolution- will be deployed in
full and kept in place throughout the process of negotiation, or as long as it
is deemed necessary and vital to keep them there.
Progress, if any, towards the resolution of the Western Sahara issue has
been too slow, to say the least. The people of Western Sahara should be given
the opportunity to exercise their right to national self-determination freely
and fairly under international supervision. No obstacles should be placed in
the way of the settlement plan.
Recent developments in Angola and Mozambique mark the dawn of a new era
in southern Africa. A situation of peace and stability is now gaining
momentum. The signing of the General Peace Agreement by the President of
Mozambique, Mr. Joaquim Chissano, and by the leader of RENAMO,
Mr. Afonso Dhlakama, is a major development in the process of bringing peace
to Mozambique. Botswana contributed in its small way to the process, and I
had the honour to witness the signing of the Agreement in Rome on 4 October.
I hope that the international community will extend political, diplomatic and
moral support to Mozambique in order to ensure that the Agreement is
translated into solid peace. Millions of Mozambicans face starvation and
death because of the war and drought. The signing of the General Peace
Agreement opens the door for the United Nations agencies and other
international relief agencies, and the international community as a whole, to
alleviate the suffering of the people of Mozambique, as well as to assist with
the means to reconstruct their country.
For the first time since it acceded to independence in 1975, Angola held
multiparty elections last week. The high turn-out for the elections indicates
the readiness of the Angolan people to use the ballot rather than the bullet
to resolve their differences. I hope that this high turn-out, coupled with
free and fair elections, will bestow legitimacy on the new Government. What
is of paramount importance however, is the agreement made by the Popular
Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the Union for the Total
Liberation of Angola (UNITA) to form a Government of national unity
irrespective of whichever party wins the elections.
This is the second time the United Nations has successfully supervised
multiparty elections in southern Africa. The role of the United Nations in
the peace process in Angola is therefore truly commendable.
There is an intricate relationship between peace and security and
economic and social development. There can be no doubt that the problems of
poverty, unemployment, huge foreign debt, budget deficits, lack of market
access, high interest rates and the environment are not the problems of any
one country or group of countries. No one country can solve them in isolation.
The macroeconomic management of the global economy should now be guided
by the need to serve common interests. There should be an end to the
perception of problems as being exclusively those of the North or of the
South. A new approach is required, one that will identify the common problems
of humanity and build on the consensus. We should put an end to mutual
distrust, and move away from perceiving the economic concerns of countries as
being mutually exclusive and permanently at loggerheads. This is not a
zero-sum game.
The lessons of our recent past should guide us. The world was united in
its opposition to aggression against Kuwait, and concerted efforts were made
to mobilize resources in support of the countries of Eastern Europe and the
Commonwealth of Independent States; all of this showed an acceptance of the
validity of the concepts of interdependence, partnership and the "global
village."
In 1993 a World Conference on Human Rights will be held, followed by the
1994 Conference on Population and Development. And in 1995, as the United
Nations celebrates its golden jubilee, the World Conference on Women will take
place. This attests to the fact that these are shared human problems and
therefore require our collective endeavours. There should be a move away from
the temptation to accord the highest priority to human rights and democracy,
to the detriment of other areas of primary concern. It serves no useful
purpose to have priorities based solely on political considerations and what
are perceived as strategic national interests.
Democracy is threatened when the legitimate expectations of the people
are frustrated by economic deprivation. In this regard, we strongly support
the proposal to convene a world summit for social development in 1995. It is
our fervent hope that a consensus decision will be reached on this matter of
critical importance to the world as a whole. The Summit should afford the
international community the opportunity to address in an integrated manner the
problems of poverty, illiteracy, disease, unemployment and poor living
conditions.
The economic situation in Africa is still bleak. Africa continues to
experience a crushing debt burden, falling commodity prices and painful
structural adjustment programmes. The economies of many African countries
have stagnated or retrogressed during the past year. The African economic
crisis is a development challenge to mankind's collective conscience.
Concerted efforts should be made to translate the United Nations New Agenda
for Africa into concrete programmes and projects that can put our continent on
the path to economic recovery and development. The Global Coalition for
Africa (GCA), which I have the honour to co-chair on behalf of Africa, has
made a significant contribution to the new consensus-building process since
its inception in Maastricht in 1990. As a forum that brings together, at the
highest level, policy makers from Africa and its international partners, the
GCA has great potential in the search for solutions to Africa's most critical
development issues.
The GCA is a forum for equal engagement, for openness to policy decisions
and for great seriousness. Our partnership with the North requires our most
determined leadership. It is important that the GCA be Africa-driven, and it
is in the interest of Africa to have a forum based on equal partnership.
As Chairman of the former Southern African Development Coordination
Conference (SADCC), I am pleased to inform the Assembly that the member States
recently signed in Windhoek, Namibia, a Treaty and Protocol establishing the
Southern African Development Community (SADC). This historic development is
part of the overall efforts of the countries of the subregion to enhance and
intensify inter-regional cooperation.
SADCC had been in existence for 12 years as a loose arrangement between
members. Those very fruitful years armed us with the courage, wisdom and
experience to transform the loose arrangement that was the SADCC into the
formal entity that is the SADC. The establishment of SADC is part and parcel
of continental efforts to create an African economic community; it is without
a doubt one of the community's building blocks.
The establishment of SADC takes place against the backdrop of a serious
drought crisis ravaging southern Africa. The response of the international
community has been very positive, but the magnitude of the crisis is
daunting. The scope and extent of its impact continue to unfold,
necessitating a revised estimation of the resources needed to alleviate the
plight of the most seriously affected populations. We appeal to the members
of the international donor community who have not yet done so to convert their
pledges into concrete contributions to avert a human tragedy.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development adopted a
number of important decisions which are now before the General Assembly for
follow-up and implementation. We attach the utmost importance to the Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development and the Programme of Action
outlined in Agenda 21. In this regard, we fully support the recommendation to
the General Assembly on the establishment of a high-level commission on
sustainable development. The Rio Summit was the beginning of a process which
should now find concrete expression in the form of the commitment by Member
States to honour their obligations. Of particular importance is the need for
resources to implement Agenda 21.
Drought and desertification threaten the economic prospects of many
developing countries. It is imperative that urgent measures be taken to find
an integrated solution to the problem. We strongly believe that this can be
done within the framework of negotiations on a convention on desertification.
This is a matter of critical importance to many African States, and a positive
decision will contribute substantially to the search for solutions to the
economic malaise facing our continent.
I should like to conclude by reaffirming Botswana's abiding faith in the
United Nations and its Charter. We are ready to play our part in our common
endeavour to strengthen the Organization to enable it to face the challenges
of the twenty-first century.