Allow me, at the outset, to commend the President of
the General Assembly and his whole team for their
election to the Bureau of the General Assembly at its
sixty-sixth session. We would like to express to his
predecessor, Mr. Joseph Deiss, our gratitude for the
excellent work he accomplished, work that has
benefited our Organization. I also congratulate Mr. Ban
Ki-moon, the Secretary-General, on the renewal of his
mandate.
 Taking the floor from this rostrum has always
been for me a special moment and a happy occasion to
recall some current issues of importance to my country
and the world. This moment is all the more special as it
comes at a time when the Democratic Republic of the
Congo is preparing to hold general elections, the
second since those of 2006.
 Thus, it is appropriate to grasp the full
significance of this key period for the Congo, because
it confirms a definitive break from the spiral of
violence and instability that has characterized the
country in recent decades. It is seen as a decisive phase
in that, more than ever, it commits the Congolese
people to a lasting democratic culture.
 Despite multifaceted challenges punctuating the
electoral process, the National Independent Electoral
Commission, our people and their Government are
doing their utmost to hold transparent and credible
elections in a calm climate. The elections are
ultimately proof of a return to the effective peace for
which Congolese men and women have yearned.
Today, peace and security reign throughout the national

25 11-50871

territory. The Republic’s institutions are all in place
and operating normally.
 As peace and security in my country have been
recovered, the United Nations presence merits
reconsideration. Indeed, the role of the United Nations
Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) must necessarily
adapt its vision and its action on the ground. In that
phase of consolidation, MONUSCO must increasingly
move beyond the strict format of peacekeeping
operations in order to assist the country in its efforts to
develop and to relaunch the economy.
 Enormous progress has certainly been made in
the areas of peace and security. However, many other
challenges remain, and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo is determined to meet them. The mobilization
and support of all should be along those lines. I refer in
particular to the following areas of concerns:
strengthening the capacity of the security sector, the
army, the police, the judiciary and penitentiary systems
to ensure the rights and security of citizens and to
stabilize the country and the region; the increasing and
orderly return of displaced persons to their places of
origin and of refugees to their respective countries; the
ongoing demobilization and reintegration of child
soldiers leaving armed groups; effective control over
the exploitation of our natural resources; and building
good-neighbourly relations with the States around us.
 In that regard, after several years of conflict the
countries in the region have reached the conclusion
that war is the worst enemy of man and his
development. It exacerbates problems rather than
resolves them. That explains their common will and
our efforts to seek peace at all costs. That is the reality
today. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is at
peace with all its neighbours. Now is the time for
reconstruction and development.
 In that regard, I would like to welcome the recent
entry of the Republic of South Sudan as a Member
State of our universal Organization and to convey to its
people my most heartfelt wishes for peace, happiness
and prosperity.
 Another challenge that my country must face is
that of maintaining economic growth. Despite a
difficult international climate, today the Democratic
Republic of the Congo shows a positive growth rate
above the African average, and it will continue that
momentum thanks to the efforts to harness its
economy. However, it is also true that such growth
remains dependent, to a large degree, on the global
economy.
 Having spoken about the situation in my country,
I would now like to address some big issues of current
concern.
 The United Nations has responded to a good
number of challenges that justified its establishment at
the end of the Second World War. In 66 years, the
world has changed greatly, and the pace of change
increases every day.
 A great institution such as ours cannot remain
static while its setting constantly changes. The time has
come to envisage adapting the Organization to current
realities so as to improve its effectiveness and, above
all, to bolster confidence among Member States. To do
that, it must make substantial progress in the major
areas of a reform too long awaited, whether the
revitalization of the General Assembly, reform of the
Security Council or the role of the Economic and
Social Council, which needs to be strengthened. A
Security Council that incorporates equally the
legitimate aspirations of developing countries,
particularly those of Africa, would certainly be more
legitimate.
 Furthermore, the issues of climate change and the
protection of nature demand a changed approach that
takes into account the aspirations of all peoples. That is
an area where it is prudent to demonstrate a spirit of
compromise and solidarity in the interest, of course, of
all countries.
 That is also the case for the crucial goals of
disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, which remain hostage to the policy
of double standards, such as discriminatory practices
and non-compliance with commitments made, in
particular by certain nuclear Powers.
 The fight against impunity and against human
rights violations, which is subjected to a selective
approach and the partisan implementation of
international humanitarian law, gives rise to legitimate
doubts about the exploitation of these noble causes for
political ends. Our Organization must address these
issues.
 The Democratic Republic of the Congo believes
that the Israeli-Palestinian question should be a major
concern for our universal Organization. The United

11-50871 26

Nations should unflaggingly continue its efforts to find
an equitable solution that bears in mind the legitimate
interests of two peoples, each with the right to live in
peace and security. The Middle East cannot recover
peace and stability without a fair and lasting settlement
of this question.
 I would not continue my remarks without
mentioning the more active cooperation that we would
like to see between the African Union and the United
Nations in the area of conflict management. It is
advisable, in my humble opinion, that we strengthen
this cooperation and make better use of it in order to
reduce the number of hot spots on our continent. We all
stand to gain.
 I have focused my remarks today on the need to
strengthen peace. That is the essential precondition for
all progress, but a peace limited to an absence of
stomping boots is not peace. Without ignoring the
successes, it must be said that in this area our
Organization still has an enormous amount to do to
ensure that each and every person is able to participate
in the progress of all of humanity.
 I conclude by renewing our wishes to see the
concept and management of international affairs
modified through an effective and sincere commitment
of the entire community of nations for a renewal and
strengthening of the multilateral system.


I
should like to thank the outgoing President of the
sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly, Mr. Joseph
Deiss of Switzerland, and congratulate Mr. Nassir
Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar on his election as
President of the sixty-sixth session of the General
Assembly. May I also express my gratitude for the
efforts and leadership of the Secretary-General,
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who has skilfully guided our
Organization in these difficult and demanding times.
 Two world wars taught humanity the necessity to
infuse national relations with respect for a few simple
yet powerful ideals. That is what the United Nations is
all about — respect for peace and good-neighbourly
relations; respect for the rule of law and the
international justice system; and respect for the
fundamental right of every person on this planet to
have a chance for a better life. The United Nations is
what we, its Member States, make of it. We are the
driving force behind its accomplishments. We are the
reason behind any of its failures. The United Nations is
where we meet and agree or disagree on global
cooperation, and when we agree, humanity becomes
stronger.
 Today the United Nations is leading vital
international cooperation in tackling climate change
and desertification. There is also the challenge of
non-communicable diseases, which hinder
macroeconomic development and keep the bottom
billions of people locked in chronic poverty.
Unregulated migration is putting huge pressure on
some countries, including Greece, as a result of —
even to the further detriment of — the low level of
development in the countries of origin, poverty and
wars. There is the crucial contribution of the United
Nations and its Human Rights Council on human rights
issues, a contribution that can grow with a stronger
mandate for the Human Rights Council. Greece is
standing for election to the Council for the 2012 term
and deeply values the support of every single one of its
partners in that effort.
 Perhaps the most overarching responsibilities of
the United Nations lie in the area of peace and security,
for without peace and security it is much more
difficult, if not impossible, to pursue the myriad other
goals of the Organization. Those goals include
ensuring nuclear security, combating terrorism and
combating piracy. They also include managing crises
as they arise, as in the recent case of Libya, and
working together with our partners in the international
community to establish and keep peace. This also

11-51197 16

means, as I said earlier, fostering good-neighbourly
relations the world over.
 Just as we need to work together as global
partners to face the challenges of our time and the
challenges of the future, each of us also has a role to
play in a given region. Greece’s immediate region is
South-East Europe, the Balkans. Greece has a vision
for peace, stability and cooperation in our region. Its
key component is the European perspective of our
region as a whole and of our individual neighbours. To
this end, two years ago Greece launched Agenda 2014,
which is aimed at revitalizing our neighbours’ efforts
to realize European aspirations, on the one hand, while
also re-igniting the European Union’s vision of
welcoming the countries of the Balkans into the
European family. Indeed, creating a European
neighbourhood of peace and cooperation in south-
eastern Europe should be our collective goal, and that
is because peace and cooperation are anything but a
foregone conclusion in the Balkans. Recent history,
often bloody history, makes that abundantly clear.
 There are still pending issues that need to be
resolved. One serious obstacle to the consolidation of
peace and security in our neighbourhood is the Kosovo
issue. Recent progress in the European Union-brokered
talks between Belgrade and Pristina gives some cause
for optimism in the wake of the tensions we saw in the
region over the summer. Those tensions remain. They
still need to be dealt with and defused. Greece wishes
to facilitate the process of reconciliation and
compromise. It wishes to foster the kind of
understanding that our neighbourhood needs on the
path to its common future in the European family. That
is a policy that works. Regional cooperation platforms,
the South-East European Cooperation Process, the
Black Sea Economic Coordination Organization, the
regional Cooperation Council and others are bringing
us closer together as partners. Serbia has made
impressive progress on its path to the European Union,
progress that must be recognized without question
marks. So has Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina
must be supported in its efforts towards reconciliation,
unity and progress. Albania is in the process of
overcoming internal divisions and returning to the path
of reforms under specific European Union criteria.
Croatia’s success story gives impetus to the entire
enlargement process for the Balkans.
 Another issue that needs our attention is that of
the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, which is not really and has never been a
name issue per se, but instead a sincere effort to ensure
that in our volatile region we put behind us, once and
for all, notions of irredentism, of attempting to rewrite
history and borders, so that our children can be raised
not with suspicions and bitterness towards each other
but with friendship and hope for living next to each
other. Greece believes, and has repeatedly stated, that
the solution lies in a fair compromise, in a name with a
geographical qualifier since Macedonia is a geographic
region that overlaps the territory of more than one
country, and that this name must be used in relation to
everyone, erga omnes. We want to resolve this issue so
that we can finally realize the huge potential of our
relationship on the basis of openness, honesty and
trust. It is high time to reach a successful and mutually
beneficial conclusion. As I have often said, this should
be a time to write history, not to keep trying to rewrite
it.
 South-East Europe is only one side of Greece’s
neighbourhood. In our southern neighbourhood, the
eastern Mediterranean, we have witnessed the
awakening of people’s desire for democracy, the hope
for a better future. We have witnessed the Arab Spring.
Our proximity to the region and to the countries there
that have been swept by calls for change is reflected in
our active presence in the region. Add to that a long-
standing tradition of relations of trust and friendship
with the Arab world and Members can see why Greece
has embraced a vital role in these developments.
 In Libya we conducted unprecedented
evacuations for tens of thousands of non-Libyans,
provided ground support for the implementation of the
Libya no-fly zone, mediated the release of European
military personnel early in the crisis and established a
diplomatic presence early on in Benghazi to liaise with
the National Transitional Council. We are now offering
infrastructure on Crete as a staging area for the efforts
to deal with the humanitarian situation in Libya. The
importance we attach to developments in Libya, Egypt,
Tunisia and throughout the region derives from the
point I made earlier. Without peace and security one
does not have cooperation, the cooperation needed for
development and for improving the day-to-day lives of
the people.
 We, as the international community, have an
obligation to help our southern neighbours achieve
their goal of democracy, of having a voice in their
affairs and of hope and future prosperity. I am talking

17 11-51197

about the same rights that the Syrian people have also
been demanding for months, the rights that their own
leadership is at present violently denying them. The
Arab world does not need new hegemons who see the
present turmoil as an opportunity to promote self-
serving agendas or for establishing new spheres of
geostrategic influence or economic power. It needs
genuine friends who see Arabs as equals and who are
willing selflessly to assist the Arab world in its
transition to democracy and true self-determination.
Greece and the European Union, under the guidance of
the United Nations, can and must play that role.
 Nowhere is the lack of peace and security more
pronounced and more chronic than with regard to the
Palestinian question. Greece supports unequivocally
Palestine’s right to statehood. It is now our
responsibility, the responsibility of every Member State
of the United Nations, to respect the Palestinian
decision to request membership and, more importantly,
to turn this into an opportunity that will jump-start
new, direct negotiations. Palestine has a right to exist
finally as an independent State, just as Israel — let us
not forget — has an equal right to exist in full and
uncompromised security. The European Union, on its
own account and within the Quartet, has a crucial role
to play in this effort. Greece will continue to engage in
dialogue with both sides and support Catherine Ashton
and the European Union’s efforts within the Quartet
and with the parties.
 Within this context of regional tension and
volatility but also great potential hope, it should be
self-evident that we need to avoid adding still greater
tensions in the eastern Mediterranean region, which is
why we are deeply concerned by the recent threats and
hostile actions against the Republic of Cyprus by our
neighbour Turkey, in violation of international law. As
the European Union, the United States, Russia and
others have already stated, Turkey’s threats and actions
over the past few days and weeks are contrary to
international law and they must cease. We believe that
the path of tension is a wrong and dangerous path.
Instead of threats our region needs strong countries that
can work together to promote stability, cooperation and
good-neighbourly relations among all, and always
within the confines of international law.
 That is the hope and example that we can give to
a region and that a region expects of us, which is why
Greece is committed to the peaceful path of
exploratory talks with Turkey for the delimitation of a
continental shelf, failing which we believe we should
submit the issue to the International Court of Justice
for resolution. We expect Turkey to refrain from
actions that undermine that spirit of cooperation. That
is why we strongly support the United Nations sanction
talks currently under way between President
Christofias of Cyprus and Mr. Eroglu, talks aimed at
the reunification of Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal
federation and the ending of Turkey’s illegal
occupation in accordance, with United Nations
resolutions and European Union law.
 Finally, economic development and fair
distribution of wealth are key prerequisites for long-
term stability and security. My country, in the midst of
its own worst financial and economic crisis in recent
history, has not only not shut itself in its shell but
remains a leading investor in a region, especially in the
western Balkans, contributing to the creation of tens of
thousands of jobs. Internally we are overhauling our
economy by investing in sustainable growth and in
Greece’s competitive advantage sectors, including
green energy, shipping, tourism, sustainable agriculture
and high-tech infrastructure. Externally, our businesses
are becoming even more outward-looking. The
economic integration of our region along the growth
axes I have described, and other complementary ones,
is certain to multiply its economic potential. It is thus
certain further to enhance the peaceful integration and
cooperation of all of its people.
 It has often been said that every crisis is also an
opportunity. If that is true, then our region, riddled as it
has been for decades with big and small crises, is
arguably today the region in the world that harbours
the greatest opportunities for peace, growth and
stability. It is in our hands to make this happen. Let us
begin.


I would like to
join previous speakers in congratulating you, Sir, on
your election as President of General Assembly at the
sixty-sixth session, and wish you every success in that
highly responsible post. I thank your predecessor, His
Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss, for his productive work
during the last session.
 I also express my profound respect and gratitude
to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban
Ki-moon, for his leadership and dedication to
revitalizing the United Nations Organization.
 With regard to the theme of this year’s general
debate, we welcome the adoption at the sixty-fifth
session of resolution 65/283 on strengthening the role
of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes,
conflict prevention and resolution. In that document,
the General Assembly reiterated that all Member States
should strictly adhere to their obligations, as laid down
in the United Nations Charter, and reaffirmed, inter
alia, the commitment to respect the sovereignty,
territorial integrity and political independence of all
States.
 Azerbaijan looks forward to the relevant guidance
for more effective mediation, as indicated in the
resolution, and we are ready to actively contribute to
its elaboration. Unfortunately, we have to admit that

29 11-51670

not all States approach their international obligations
responsibly and comply with the generally accepted
norms and principles of international law.
 For almost two decades, we have witnessed the
flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and
other documents of international law by the Republic
of Armenia, which has perpetrated aggression against
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic
of Azerbaijan. As a result of that aggression, almost
20 per cent of the territory of Azerbaijan remains under
occupation and about 1 million Azerbaijani refugees
and internally displaced persons are unable to return to
their homes.
 In 1993, the Security Council adopted four
resolutions (resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993) 874
(1993) and 884 (1993)) demanding the immediate,
complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian
forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan
and reaffirmed the sovereignty, territorial integrity and
inviolability of the internationally recognized borders
of Azerbaijan. The same appeals were made also by
other international organizations. Unfortunately,
Armenia continues to ignore the calls of the
international community.
 What is even more worrisome is that, instead of
preparing its people for a peaceful, prosperous and
stable future in friendship and cooperation with the
neighbouring countries, the leadership of Armenia
continues to publicly incite the future generations to
new wars, violence and aggression and to propagate,
by all means, the dangerous ideas of animosity and
hatred towards not only Azerbaijan, but also other
peoples of the region.
 Illegal activities in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan, including the implantation of ethnic
Armenian settlers, as well as the destruction and
appropriation of historical and cultural heritage,
represent another source of serious concern. Such
activities serve to further consolidate the current status
quo of the occupation, securing the results of ethnic
cleansing and colonization of the seized lands, as well
as to seriously hamper the prospects for conflict
resolution. Earlier in this Hall, we heard a very
aggressive and unconstructive statement by the
President of Armenia. He openly confirmed that
destructive policy of Armenia. (see )
 The Field Assessment Mission conducted by the
Minsk Group Co-Chairs of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe in October 2010 to
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, stated, inter alia,
that the status quo of the occupation was unacceptable
and urged Armenia to put an end to its illegal practices
in those territories.
 As a country suffering from the occupation of its
territories and the forcible displacement of hundreds of
thousands of its citizens, Azerbaijan is the most
interested party in the earliest negotiated settlement of
the conflict. Our position is well known to the
international community. It is based on strict adherence
to the norms and principles of international law,
according to which the acquisition of territory by force
is inadmissible and must be rejected resolutely and
unconditionally.
 It is absolutely illogical that the leadership of
Armenia, which has implemented the total ethnic
cleansing of not only the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan, but also of the Azerbaijani population in its
own territory, is trying to apply the principle of self-
determination. It is obvious that one cannot expel
peoples from their homes on ethnic grounds and, at the
same time, speak about self-determination for those
who remain on the same grounds.
 Azerbaijan recognizes that the right of peoples to
self-determination can be implemented only
 “at all times in conformity with the purposes and
principles of the Charter of the United Nations
and with the relevant norms of international law,
including those relating to territorial integrity of
States”,
as enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act.
 Azerbaijan is confident that the conflict
resolution must start with the withdrawal of Armenian
armed forces from the occupied territories, within the
fixed timetable, followed by the restoration of
communications, the return of refugees and internally
displaced persons, and the creation of conditions for
the peaceful coexistence of Azerbaijanis and
Armenians in the Nagorno Karabakh region within the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. That step-by-step
approach, which has been proposed by mediators and
supported by the international community, except,
unfortunately, the leadership of Armenia, can bring
durable peace, stability and predictability to the region.
 Azerbaijan still maintains its interest, motivation
and patience in that very hard and sensitive process of

11-51670 30

negotiations. We believe that the international
community will convince the Armenian side to respect
the generally accepted norms and principles of
international law and cease abusing the right of
Azerbaijanis to live within their own territories,
including the Nagorno Karabakh region. In return, we
are ready to guarantee the highest level of self-rule for
that region within the Republic of Azerbaijan.
 I would like to touch upon another important
issue of the international agenda — Palestine.
Azerbaijan reaffirms its adherence to the position
expressed by the majority of the United Nations
Member States. We reiterate our long-standing
solidarity with the people and leadership of Palestine,
and believe that the time has come to reach a
breakthrough in that long-standing and very important
issue. The time has come for Palestine to be fully
represented at the United Nations.
 Azerbaijan is determined to contribute further to
the realization of the development goals and objectives
agreed within the United Nations. In recent years,
Azerbaijan has enhanced its humanitarian assistance to
support international and national efforts aimed at
eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable
development and global prosperity for all. We pay
particular attention to addressing the special needs and
vulnerabilities of developing and least developed
countries, as well as those recovering from natural
disasters and suffering from climate change, in
particular small island States.
 The recent humanitarian crisis in the Horn of
Africa once again demonstrated the importance of
global solidarity. Azerbaijan has provided urgent aid to
support the ongoing efforts towards the eradication of
famine in that region. The Government of Azerbaijan is
currently considering additional funding to support the
international community in ramping up its efforts to
respond to the humanitarian situation and contribute to
a mid- and long-term sustainable solution to the crisis
in the Horn of Africa.
 Proceeding from the fruitful cooperation between
the United Nations and the Government of Azerbaijan,
resolution 64/186, entitled “Building connectivity
through the Trans-Eurasian Information Super
Highway”, initiated by Azerbaijan, was adopted at the
sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly on
21 December 2009. As the main coordinator of the
project, Azerbaijan has conducted a feasibility study
and is financing the Secretariat of the project. We have
taken a number of steps towards the establishment of a
consortium, comprising of major telecommunications
operators in the region.
 Azerbaijan has always been a place of
coexistence and tolerance among various faiths, ethnic
groups and philosophies. It is one of the unique places
where different cultures and civilizations meet at the
crossroads between East and West and North and
South.
 As a bridge between cultures and an active
member of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of
Civilizations, Azerbaijan feels responsible for
promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue
based on mutual respect and understanding. Thus, over
the past years, we hosted a number of high-profile and
action-oriented events, including the Summit of World
Religious Leaders in April 2010, the World Forum for
Intercultural Dialogue from 7 to 9 April 2011 and other
similar events.
 Desiring to contribute further to the maintenance
of international peace, security, stability and prosperity,
Azerbaijan has put forward its candidature for a
non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the
term of 2012-2013. The elections will be held this year
on 21 October at the General Assembly.
 The year 2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of
Azerbaijan’s membership in the United Nations,
although, unlike other candidates from the Group of
Eastern European States, we have never had an
opportunity to become a member of the Security
Council. Azerbaijan’s election to the Security Council
would contribute to redressing the underrepresentation
of small developing States and bring a more balanced
membership to that United Nations organ. The
Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan would
highly appreciate the valuable support of the States
Members of the United Nations for its candidature for
a non-permanent seat in the Security Council.


Let me start by
congratulating His Excellency Ambassador Nassir
Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his election as President of the
sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly, and
assuring him that he will have the fullest cooperation
of the Icelandic delegation.
 In recent weeks, we have witnessed the worst
hunger crisis of this century in the Horn of Africa. It is
a devastating reminder that fighting poverty and
hunger is still the most important and challenging
undertaking of our times. Our collective duty and
responsibility is to help our weakest brothers and
sisters. As wealthier nations, we must do better in
providing relief. We must act with more speed and
more generosity to help those who are deprived of the
basic necessities of life — food and water. I can say,
my friends, that in Iceland, we have indeed decided to
do so.
 I am quite happy to be able to tell the Assembly
today that the Icelandic Parliament has unanimously
agreed to substantially increase our contribution to
developing nations in the coming financial year. It has
also accepted a plan to raise our aid to the goal of
0.7 per cent of our gross national income. That is our
pledge, as agreed by every political party in the
Icelandic Parliament.
 The fight against hunger and poverty is the same
struggle as the one we wage to protect our planet from
the ravages caused by the greed of our own species. All
Members know that, next year, we will celebrate the
twentieth anniversary of the bright new vision
introduced at the historic Earth Summit in Rio. Over
these past 20 years, deep concern for the environment
has indeed moved to the forefront of the global agenda.
But the Assembly also knows the sobering truth, which
is that the ambitions of Rio are still a far cry from
being realized. Actions are still needed. If ever there
was a time to act boldly, that time is now.
 The key theme of Rio next year will be the “green
economy”. I assure the Assembly that my country has
expertise to offer that can help to fuel a green
revolution. Renewable energy, marine health, the
sustainable use of land and, not least, gender equality,
which have always been at the core of the Icelandic
foreign policy, are the four issues that we shall bring to
Rio next year. What we really need is indeed a
revolution, a green revolution. We need a seismic shift
from fossil fuels to renewable energy. That is the only
way to turn the ship.
 In Iceland, we have some cutting-edge
technology on geothermal energy that we want to
share. That splendid form of renewable energy is the
most undervalued and overlooked source of cheap
power in the world. Of course, geothermal is most

11-51390 4

certainly not a silver bullet, but it needs to be a part of
the portfolio that we must develop to solve emissions
problems. Many members know that Central and South
America, East Africa and South-East Asia are home to
vast areas literally brimming with geothermal potential.
Icelandic know-how, coupled with outside financing,
could go a long way in making those areas self-
sufficient in terms of green energy.
 As one of the largest fishing nations, Iceland has
always been deeply protective of the health of the
oceans. Today, climate change threatens to place the
fisheries of the world under a new strain. As we speak,
the acidification of the oceans resulting from human
carbon emissions is affecting the health of the marine
environment. This is especially true in the Arctic and
its vicinity, which is my home. As a marine biologist, I
fear that, more likely sooner than later, this may affect
the world’s fishing stocks, which are a vital source of
protein for more than 1 billion people. This is just one
more argument why we so urgently need to conclude a
post-Kyoto agreement later this year on the reduction
of greenhouse gases.
 Every day, the Arctic bears silent witness to the
impact of climate change. The snow that I experienced
as a child is today fast becoming a rare event for my
two teenage daughters. The sad truth is that the Arctic
glaciers and the Arctic sea ice are melting at a much
faster rate than anyone ever anticipated. It is of course
true that the disappearance of the sea ice will open up
new and shorter transport routes from the Pacific to the
North Atlantic via the Arctic Ocean. We most certainly
will also see huge areas open up for the exploitation of
oil and gas resources.
 This will come at a price, however. Climatic
changes are forcing the peoples of the Arctic, such as
our neighbours in Greenland, to change their living
habits. These changes will also melt the tundra, which
acts as a carbon buffer against the climate system, and
thus further accelerate the warming of the planet. The
already-fragile ecosystem of the Arctic will become
even more brittle.
 Let us remember what happened in the Gulf of
Mexico and let us be aware that oil breaks down very,
very slowly in the extreme cold of the Arctic. We
should not allow the exploitation of the Arctic without
applying the strictest rules. That must be the
precondition for every human move into Arctic
resources.
 I am often asked whether a country like Iceland,
which is not geographically small but has, admittedly,
slightly fewer people than most, can have any say in
action on issues of global concern, be it in Rio or in
New York. Well, to lift a phrase from a famous
statesman who spoke from this very podium a few days
ago: “Yes, we can”.
 Twenty years ago, in 1991, we in Iceland watched
a television broadcast of thousands of brave Latvians,
Lithuanians and Estonians taking their destiny into
their own hands. They reached out to the international
community, among them the people of Iceland, and
asked for help in breaking the ice that was impeding
their international recognition.
 The great British statesman, Lord Palmerston,
once made a famous statement to the effect that there is
no such thing as eternal friendship between nations and
that only eternal interests could determine how nations
reacted towards each other. That well-known mantra is
still taught today in every bad school of political
science. My friends, if Palmerston’s words had
prevailed, Iceland would have turned a deaf ear to the
call of the freedom fighters in the Baltics. We did not.
In the historic year of 1991, Iceland became the first to
recognize the restored sovereignty of the Baltic States.
We did that out of respect for the principles that are so
vitally important to small nations: the right to choose
your own destiny, to carve out your own future — the
undeniable right of small nations to be independent.
Principles do matter in politics.
 Based on the same principle that led Iceland to
recognize the Baltic States in 1991, today we support
the Palestinian struggle for statehood. Based on that
very same principle, Iceland feels that the international
community should welcome Palestine as a new
Member State in the United Nations, based on the
pre-1967 borders — exactly the same criteria as those
laid down by the European Union, the Quartet and
lately, also by President Barack Obama in his strong
speech in May.
 I have been to Gaza. I have talked to the people:
the fishermen who no longer can ply their trade, the
young people who are unemployed, the families that
need a roof over their head. I have also been to the
West Bank. I have seen with my own eyes how the land
of the Palestinians has literally been cut to pieces by
horrible walls of separation. That is wrong. That is

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unjust. That is against every moral code that Iceland
has ever stood for as a guardian of human rights.
 We must remember that Palestine today is really
doing just the same thing as Israel did in 1947, and
Iceland and so many other States at the time supported
Israel’s action. Israel took its case to the United
Nations and emerged with statehood. Palestine
deserves the same. And I think it is hypocrisy to
suggest otherwise. In the middle of the democratic
revolution brought on by the fresh breeze of the Arabic
Spring and inspired, not least, by women and young
people, it would be foolish to deny Palestine its right to
statehood. Such denial would act against reconciliation
in the region.
 It will, perhaps, not come as any surprise to
Members here, but Iceland will therefore vote “yes”,
when a resolution on Palestinian statehood comes to a
vote in the General Assembly. Furthermore, the
Icelandic Government is determined to fully recognize
Palestine and will next week submit to the Parliament
of Iceland a resolution on the recognition of Palestine
as a sovereign and independent State.


Let me at the outset welcome
South Sudan as the 193rd Member of the United
Nations. I commend the successful conduct of the
referendum on independence as a manifestation of the
principle of self-determination. That historic act has
put an end to a long civil war on the African continent
and opened up new horizons for the stability and
prosperity of the people of South Sudan.
 Hungary fully aligns itself with the statement
made earlier by President Van Rompuy on behalf of the
European Union. To complement this, allow me to
outline my country’s position on three issues figuring
high on our foreign policy and development agenda,
namely, the Arab Spring, sustainable development and
the prevention and control of non-communicable
diseases.
 More than 20 years ago, Central and Eastern
Europe, including my country, Hungary, was the scene
of sweeping political changes. Beginning in early 2011,
the world has witnessed, yet again, the outburst of
popular will for profound transformation, this time in
North Africa and the Middle East. Those of us who
took active part in the democratization process and the
transition to the rule of law and market economies in
our region have been following the events of the Arab
Spring with great empathy and understanding.
 The revolutions leading to sweeping shifts in
Tunisia, Egypt and other countries were equally driven
by sincere desires for a better life and for putting in
place new political systems capable of better
responding to the aspirations of all parts of society. The
voices of Tahrir Square echoed the aspirations of
millions of people.
 The overthrow of autocratic regimes is,
nevertheless, only the first step in that direction. As
shown by our own experience, the most difficult stages
of the transformation process are yet to come. The
victorious popular uprisings of the Arab Spring have
encountered tremendous challenges in terms of
establishing new power structures, drafting new
constitutions and other basic laws, as well as
conducting free and democratic elections, just to
mention a few. Essentially those measures require an

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internally driven process, carried out with the support
of the international community.
 Hungarian society has, on the one hand, already
successfully met many of those challenges and, on the
other hand, made some avoidable mistakes. We
therefore feel equipped to share our experiences and to
offer a substantive toolkit for good governance and
democratic change. As a good friend and supporting
partner, Hungary truly hopes that those undergoing
transitional periods today will be able to benefit from
both our achievements and our omissions.
 Far be it from us, of course, to try to give advice
or provide ready-made solutions. While we advocate
the universal character of human rights and
fundamental freedoms, as well as the virtues of the rule
of law and good governance, we believe that those
ideals can be implemented only in conjunction with
respect for the cultural, religious and other traditions of
each nation.
 At this stage of what we see as a long transformation
process in the Arab world, we thus offer to share our own
experiences and lessons learned. The Hungarian
Government, in cooperation with non-governmental
organizations, has already carried out, and plans to
carry out in future, concrete projects and programmes
aimed at, inter alia, assisting the new emerging
democracies in North Africa and the Middle East in the
field of institution-building, security-sector reform, and
drawing up the legislative framework for political and
economic renewal. We welcome the central role and
increasing involvement of the United Nations and its
various agencies in support of the democratization of
those countries. Hungary stands ready to contribute to
such efforts and provide its specialized expertise.
 Over the past two decades, since the Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the three pillars of
sustainable development have been the focus of the
international development agenda. Time has shown that
only a coherent approach to the environmental,
economic and social aspects of this concept can ensure
the long-term survival and prosperity of mankind. We
should not miss this chance to formulate new courses
of action in this era of reinforced mutual
interdependence and globalization.
 Against the background of the constantly
deteriorating global environment, it is an increasingly
demanding task to strike the necessary balance
between ensuring growth in all regions of the world, a
decent life for our societies and the preservation of
natural resources in the interests of the survival of our
planet. One of the responses to this dilemma is the
concept of a green economy, which is gaining ever-
greater support. We consider the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development as a unique
event aimed at generating the widest possible support
for and acceptance of this green concept. Its goal is to
support the sustainability of socio-economic
development at the national, regional and global levels.
 In addition, the concept of a green economy has
the potential to also contribute to job creation and the
eradication of poverty. If implemented in a coherent
manner, it will create new resources for achieving the
internationally agreed development goals. There is no
doubt that achieving these goals will require innovative
thinking in terms of technology transfer, investment
and fair trade.
 In order to put this concept into practice, a
reorganization of the environmental architecture of the
United Nations is needed. Such reform should pursue
the goal of streamlining and unifying the existing
structures, with a view to increasing the coherence and
efficiency of the system as a whole.
 It is our shared responsibility to develop joint
strategies to mitigate the effects of non-communicable
diseases. Their rapid growth is preventable and can be
controlled to a significant extent. Hungary has been in
the forefront of this fight, with national cancer and
diabetes control systems in place that may contribute to
paving the way for functional alternatives around the
world. It is also our fundamental belief that the
development of comprehensive national and regional
strategies for control programmes can significantly
lower the incidence of these illnesses. This can
contribute to prevention, early detection and adequate
treatment in a cost-effective way. We are also proud of
Hungary’s long-standing tradition of sharing
knowledge and providing educational and training
programmes for students and experts from all over the
world. In the past decades, hundreds of students from
outside Hungary have obtained their medical degrees
in our country. We are cooperating with various
countries, sharing knowledge and experiences in order
to contribute to the collective efforts that need to be
made to bring about better health worldwide.
 The High-level Meeting gave momentum to this
fight, which needs to be fought not only on an

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individual level by the victims of these diseases, but
also by our countries and by the international
community working together. We need to capitalize on
this in order to reach the ultimate goal of saving lives
around the world and thereby move further towards
one of the founding objectives of the United Nations:
human development.
 As members may know, Hungary has put forward
its candidacy for Security Council membership in
2012-2013. We continue to uphold the principles and
objectives enshrined in the Charter of the United
Nations and international law, such as the equality of
nations, the peaceful settlement of disputes and respect
for human rights. Hungary also stands ready to
contribute in a meaningful way to all efforts aimed at
enhancing the capabilities of the United Nations in the
field of conflict prevention and mediation. We believe
in an integrated approach to conflict resolution and will
advocate a stronger integration of security and
development concerns, as well as enhanced interaction
between the Council and other main organs of the
United Nations.
 Let me conclude by assuring the Assembly once
again that Hungary will continue to contribute its
utmost to strengthening the global cooperation of
countries within the United Nations system, which is
so strongly needed to tackle today’s challenges.


Allow me at the outset to extend my greetings to all
those who are participating in the work of the General
Assembly at its sixty-sixth session and to wish them
every success in their endeavours. It gives me great
pleasure to congratulate the Secretary-General, His
Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, on his reappointment to
that high post for a second term. I also wish to
congratulate Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his
election to the post of President of the General
Assembly at the sixty-sixth session, and wish him
fruitful work.
 In 2011, Uzbekistan has been celebrating a
landmark date in its modern history — the twentieth
anniversary of independence. Only 20 years have
passed since the Republic of Uzbekistan became an
independent State and joined the ranks of the fully
fledged Members of the United Nations, having gained
the right to decide and build on its own present and
future, but over that period Uzbekistan has made
significant progress in building an independent State,
developing the national economy and modernizing the
country.
 During those years, the Republic of Uzbekistan
has transformed itself from a sluggish raw materials-
based economy, with a destructive monoculture of
cotton, an underdeveloped industrial and social
infrastructure and low-per-capita consumption, into a
modern country with a steadily developing economy.
 The following evidence clearly testifies to the
fact that, over the past 20 years of independent
development, Uzbekistan’s economy has grown by a
factor of 3.5 and the population’s total income has
increased by a factor of 20. Despite the negative
impact of the ongoing global financial and economic
crisis, Uzbekistan continues to develop at a steady
pace. Over the past five years, the growth in gross
domestic product (GDP) has averaged 8.5 per cent.
This year, it is expected that that level will be
maintained.
 Striking achievements have been made in
implementing the goals set out in the Millennium
Declaration. During the years of independence, State
expenditure in the social sector has increased more
than fivefold. About 60 per cent of the annual budget is
devoted to the development of health care, education,
communal services, social welfare and other sectors.
Some 82.5 per cent of the population has access to
clean drinking water and 83.5 per cent to natural gas.
 I would like to underscore in particular the huge
role and significance in all those changes of education

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and people’s increasing awareness. Annual expenditure
on education in Uzbekistan amounts to 10 to 12 per
cent of GDP, whereas that indicator worldwide does
not exceed 3 to 5 per cent. An exceptional national
programme to train skilled personnel and workers has
been launched. From 2009, a mandatory 12-year
education programme was introduced. Uzbekistan has
set up more than 1,600 modern vocational colleges and
high schools.
 Such indicators, which are not often seen across
the world, clearly affirm that our most important goal
is ensure the quality of life and protect the interests of
citizens. The Uzbek model for the country’s
democratization and transition to a socially oriented
market economy, adopted in the early years of our
independence, has served as the basis for those
achievements.
 Our country is steadily progressing towards
achieving the goal we have set ourselves, namely, to
join the ranks of the modern, developed and
democratic States and to ensure for its people a high
standard of living and a dignified place in the world
community.
 Today, we have every reason to affirm that we
have achieved the main goal, that is, the country’s
irreversible and steady reform and democratization.
The conceptual framework for further deepening the
democratic reforms and establishing civil society in the
country, developed by the President of Uzbekistan,
Islam Karimov, in November 2010, provides for the
further development and strengthening of Uzbekistan’s
long-term sustainable development model. The
conceptual framework calls for further democratization
of State authority and governance, reforming the
judicial system, establishing and developing civil
society institutions, ensuring freedom of speech and
information, developing the electoral law, further
deepening market reform and liberalizing the economy.
 In assessing the state of affairs in Central Asia, it
is important to note that, given its geopolitical and
geostrategic significance and the very rich natural
resources, the region continues to be the focus of the
international community’s attention in the context of
the growing threats and challenges to security and
stability in the world.
 First, the war that has been under way in
Afghanistan for more than 30 years continues to be the
main destabilizing factor, not only in the region but
also in the entire world. More unfortunately, the
situation remains tense despite all the measures now
being taken by the international community. It is
important to underscore, in particular, that today,
everyone is sure that there is no military solution to the
Afghan problem. Almost all leaders, including those
involved in resolving the Afghan issue and the direct
military command of the coalition forces in
Afghanistan, are of this view.
 We firmly believe that the Afghan people
themselves must resolve their country’s problems.
Only through a compromise between the warring
parties with the Afghans themselves being involved in
that process, as well as the socio-economic recovery of
Afghanistan with the help of the international
community, will it be possible to find a way out of the
current deadlock in Afghanistan’s situation.
 President Karimov already stated that at the
NATO Summit in Bucharest in April 2008. We see the
future of Afghanistan as a peaceful and steadily
developing State that poses no threat to neighbouring
countries, such that the people living in the region can
fully enjoy the benefits of friendly, mutually beneficial
and equal relations. Uzbekistan will continue to pursue
a policy of good-neighbourliness and cooperation
towards Afghanistan on a bilateral basis, in accordance
with mutual national interests.
 Secondly, the tragic events in Kyrgyzstan in June
2010 posed a serious challenge to peace and stability in
the Central Asian region. More than a year has passed
since those bloody events. However, to date no
political or legal conclusions on all those forces and
specific individuals who ordered, organized and
perpetrated the crimes have been drawn. Until such
investigations are completed and the perpetrators,
irrespective of their nationality, origin or position, are
punished, it is difficult to envisage the restoration of
trust and cooperation between the Uzbek community
and the Kyrgyz.
 Thirdly, the socio-economic development not
only of our country, but also of the entire Central Asian
region, is hampered by the ecological catastrophe of
the Aral Sea. In practically the span of one generation,
it has changed from once being one of the most
exceptional and most beautiful seas into a drying and
disappearing pool. Today, the Aral Sea basin faces a
range of ecological, socio-economic and demographic
problems of global consequences. The Secretary-

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General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, himself was convinced of
that while visiting the Aral Sea last year.
 In such circumstances, attempts to build huge
hydropower facilities on the upper reaches of the Amu
Darya and Syr Darya rivers are counterproductive and
dangerous, since they pose serious threats to public
safety in terms both of environmental, social and
technical risks and of preserving the volume and
course of the river flow.
 In addressing such problems, we proceed on the
premise that any use of transboundary watercourses
must take into account the interests of all States located
in their basins, and should be carried out in accordance
with international law. I refer in particular to the
Convention on the Protection and Use of
Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
of 17 March 1992 and the Convention on the Law of
the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses of
21 May 1997.
 We do not ignore the rights of the upstream
countries to develop their hydropower sector. In our
view, this is a very important sector of the economy.
However, it would be safer and more rational to build
cascades of small hydropower plants with the same
total production capacity. Our country’s position is not
only fully consistent with relevant international law
and accepted regulations, but it is also, and most
importantly, derived from them.
 In conclusion, Uzbekistan supports the theme
proposed by the President of the General Assembly for
this session’s general debate, namely, “The role of
mediation in the settlement of disputes by peaceful
means”. We fully share his view regarding the
importance of strengthening multilateral machinery so
as to ensure a stable and just world order that is
capable of effectively responding to emerging threats
to regional stability and international security.


It is almost the end of
the beginning of the annual debate in United Nations.
Having listened to and evaluated positions on different
world issues debated by the planet and all of humanity,
the delegation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
the South American Bolivarian Republic, has received
for the purposes of sharing with the Governments and
the brotherly peoples of the world through the General
Assembly a letter from the president of our Republic,
Commander Hugo Chávez Frías. This letter contains a
series of comments and reflections that are necessary
and relevant for a democratic debate in our world and,
above all, for the process of the growing empowerment
of the peoples of the world and of transformation and
necessary re-establishment of the United Nations as a
multilateral system that has been with us for the last
six or seven decades.
 By your leave, Sir, I will read out and distribute
to delegations the letter from Commander Hugo
Chávez:
  “Caracas, 26 September 2011
  “I am writing these words to the United
Nations General Assembly, that great forum
where representatives of all the peoples of the
world meet to express the reality of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and to reaffirm
our unwavering commitment to justice, equality
and peace.
  “Peace, peace, peace … let us not look for
peace in cemeteries, as Kant said with irony, but
rather through the most zealous respect for
international law. Unfortunately, the United
Nations, throughout its history, instead of adding
and multiplying efforts for peace among nations,
has ended up by supporting the most ruthless
injustices, sometimes by acts of commission,
sometimes by acts of omission.
  “We need to recall the Preamble of the
Charter of the United Nations, which talks of
saving future generations from the scourge of
war. Those are just empty words; since 1945, the
number of wars has continued to grow
inexorably. Let us look once again at Libya in
ruins, covered in blood, because of the powerful
people in this world.
  “I call on the Governments of the world to
consider that since 11 September 2001, a new

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imperialist war was started, an unprecedented,
permanent, perpetual war.
  “We need to face the cruel reality of our
world. We must make a list of our concerns
stemming from the dangers and threats that are
stalking us. Why is the United States the only
country that sows military bases all over the
world? What is it so afraid of that it must set
aside staggering budgets for constantly increasing
its military strength? Why has it unleashed so
many wars, violating the sovereignty of other
countries, which have the same rights over their
futures? How can we can we use international
law to counter its senseless ambition to militarily
dominate the world in order to ensure access to
the energy sources it needs to sustain its
predatory consumerist model? Why does the
United Nations do nothing to stop Washington?
  “If we answer all of these questions with
absolute sincerity, we would understand that the
empire has crowned itself judge of the world,
without anyone bestowing that responsibility on
it and even though, therefore, the imperialist war
is a threat to us all.
  “Washington knows that a multipolar world
is already an irreversible reality. Its strategy
consists of halting the sustained rise of groups of
emerging countries at any price, by promoting its
major interests with its partners and followers in
order to direct multi-polarity along the path that
the empire wants. What is more, the goal is to
reconfigure the world so that it sustains Yankee
military hegemony. Humankind is facing a
genuine threat of permanent war. As the case of
Libya shows, the empire is ready, in any scenario,
to create the political conditions for going to war.
In the imperial worldview, Clausewitz’s famous
axiom is being reversed: politics is the
continuation of war by other means.
  “What is behind this new Armageddon? It is
the absolute power of the military-financial
leadership, destroying the world in its
accumulation of more profits, a military-financial
leadership that is in fact subordinate to a group of
States. It should be borne in mind that war is
financial capital’s way of life: war that ruins most
people and makes a few unimaginably rich. At
this moment we have a profoundly serious threat
to global peace: the unleashing of a new cycle of
colonial wars, starting with Libya, with the
cynical goal of breathing new life into the global
capitalist system, whose current structural crisis
has still in no way curbed its destructive,
consumerist voraciousness. The case of Libya
should alert us to the desire to practice a new
imperial version of colonialism: military
interventionism endorsed by the anti-democratic
bodies of the United Nations and justified by
prefabricated lies.
  “Humankind is on the brink of an
unimaginable catastrophe. The world is marching
inexorably towards devastating ecocide; the
terrifying consequences of global warming
proclaim it, but the ideology of the environmental
equivalents of Cortés and Pizarro, the early
Spanish colonizers who destroyed part of the
American continent — as the influential French
thinker Edgar Morin has said — drives them to
continue their depredations and destruction. The
energy and food crises worsen, while capitalism
still breaches every boundary with impunity.
  “As we face this bleak prospect, our way is
lighted by the great American scientist and two-
time Nobel prize winner, Linus Pauling, who
said:
   ‘I believe that there is a greater power
in the world than the evil power of military
force, of nuclear bombs — there is the
power of good, of morality, of
humanitarianism. I believe in the power of
the human spirit’.
 Then let us mobilize all the power of the human
spirit; it is time. We must unleash a great political
counter-offensive to prevent the powers of
darkness finding justification for going to war, so
they can unleash the generalized global war with
which they hope to save the West’s capital.
Venezuela calls for the establishment of a grand
alliance against war and for peace, with the
supreme goal of avoiding war at all costs. The
warmongers and, especially, the military-
financial leadership that sponsors and leads them
must be defeated politically. Let us build the
balanced universe envisioned by the liberator
Simón Bolivar, the balance that, as he said,

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cannot be found in war; the balance born out of
peace.
  “Let us take note and remember: Venezuela,
along with the member countries of the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our
America, actively advocated for a peaceful and
negotiated solution to the Libyan conflict, as did
the African Union. Eventually, however, the logic
of war decreed by the Security Council and made
a reality by NATO, the armed wing of the Yankee
empire, was imposed, the logic of war whose
vanguard is the transnational media.
  “Let us remember that the case of Libya
was brought before the Security Council on the
basis of intense propaganda on the part of the
media, which lied in saying that the Libyan Air
Force was bombing innocent civilians, not to
mention the grotesque media setting of Tripoli’s
Green Square. This premeditated campaign of lies
was used to justify hasty and irresponsible
decisions by the Security Council, paving the way
for NATO’s policy of military regime change in
Libya. It is worth asking: what became of the
no-fly zone established by Security Council
resolution 1973 (2011)? How could the more than
20,000 NATO missions flown against Libya,
many of them aimed at bombing the Libyan
people, not represent the denial of the no-fly
zone? Once the Libyan Air Force was completely
annihilated, the continued ‘humanitarian’
bombing showed that the West, through NATO, is
imposing its interests on North Africa, turning
Libya into a colonial protectorate.
  “It is a joke to say that the United Nations
imposed an arms embargo on Libya, when NATO
itself brought in thousands of heavy weapons in
support of a violent insurrection against that
country’s legitimate Government. The embargo,
of course, was there only to prevent the Libyan
Government from defending its sovereignty,
exposing yet again the functioning of the cruel
international system, under which the law applies
only to the weak.
  “What is the real reason for this military
intervention? To recolonize Libya so as to take
over its wealth. We have no doubt about that.
Everything else is subordinate to that goal. No
one colonizes innocently, as the great poet of
Martinique, Aimé Césaire, rightly said in his
extraordinary essay on colonialism. By the way,
the residence of Venezuela’s Ambassador in
Tripoli was invaded and looted while the United
Nations stayed mute, guarding a shameful
silence.
  “We demand the immediate cessation of the
bombing on Libyan territory. We will also
continue demanding that international law be
respected in the case of this sister nation. We will
not remain silent in the face of evil intentions to
destroy the foundations that endow it with sense
and reason. We therefore put this question to the
Assembly: Why is the Libyan seat in the United
Nations granted to the so called National
Transitional Council while Palestine’s admission
is blocked by ignoring not only its legitimate
aspiration, but also the will of the majority of the
General Assembly? With all its strength and with
the moral authority granted it by the will of the
majority of the world’s peoples, Venezuela
hereby affirms its unconditional solidarity with
the Palestinian people and its unlimited support
for the Palestinian national cause, including, of
course, the immediate admission of Palestine to
the United Nations as a full Member State.
  “And the same imperialist formula is being
repeated in the case of Syria. Had not some of the
Security Council’s permanent members stood
firm, it would all have ended with the Council
authorizing NATO to fire its missiles and send its
bombers against Syria. It is intolerable that the
Powers of this world wish to arrogate to
themselves the right to order legitimate,
sovereign rulers to resign on the spot. Having
succeeded in Libya, they wish to proceed in the
same way against Syria. Such are the current
asymmetries that exist on the international scene,
and such are the abuses done to independent
nations.
  “It is not for us to pass judgement on
Syria’s domestic situation, first, because of the
inherent complexity of any national reality, and
secondly, because only the Syrian people can
solve their problems and decide their fate by the
right to self-determination of all peoples, an
inalienable right in every sense. But that does not
prevent us from believing that it is 100 times
better to bet on the success of the broad national

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dialogue for which President Basher Al-Assad
has called than to impose sanctions and howl like
hyenas for military intervention. We fully support
the efforts of President Al-Assad to preserve the
stability and unity of his country, which is being
besieged by the West.
  “Now let us turn to the Horn of Africa,
where we will witness a heartbreaking example
of the United Nations’ historic failure. Most
serious news agencies report that 20,000 to
29,000 children under the age of five have died in
the last three months.
  “The journalist Frida Modak, in her article
‘To Die In Somalia’ reveals the miserliness that
afflicts the major international organizations, first
among them the United Nations, a level of
poverty worse than that ravaging the vast region
of the Horn of Africa.
  “In order to confront this situation, we need
$1.4 billion, not to solve the problem but to
address the emergency that Somalia, Kenya,
Djibouti and Ethiopia are going through.
According to all information received, the next
two months will be decisive if we are to prevent
the death of more than 12 million people. That
situation is most acute in Somalia.
  “We must also ask ourselves how much
money is being spent on sophisticated weapons to
destroy Libya. Here is the answer of United
States Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who says,
‘This new war will cost us $500 million during its
first week alone. Obviously, we do not have
financing resources for that and we will end up
cutting off other important domestic programs’
funding’. According to Mr. Kucinich himself, the
amount spent in northern Africa during the first
three weeks to massacre the Libyan people could
have been used to help the entire Horn of Africa,
saving dozens of thousands of lives.
  “The reasons behind the criminal military
engagement in Libya are not humanitarian at all.
They are based on the Malthusian postulate that
there are simply too many people in the world
and that they have to be eliminated by generating
more hunger, destruction and uncertainty, thereby
creating more financial profits.
  “In this regard, it is frankly regrettable that
the opening address of the sixty-sixth session of
the General Assembly did not include an
immediate appeal to solve the humanitarian crisis
in the Horn of Africa, even as it asserted that the
time had come to act on Syria. What criminal
cynicism!
  “We also call for an end to the shameful
criminal blockade against our sister republic of
Cuba, imposed by the United States empire for
more than 50 years with gruesome cruelty against
the heroic people of José Martí. By 2010, a total
of 19 separate votes in the General Assembly
articulated the universal demand that the United
States cease its economic and trade blockade
against Cuba.
  “Since all arguments of international good
sense have been exhausted, we have no choice
but to believe that such aggravated cruelty
against the Cuban Revolution is the result of
imperial arrogance in the face of the dignity and
courage shown by the defiant Cuban people in
their sovereign decision to determine their own
fate and fight for their happiness.
  “In Venezuela, we believe that the time has
come to demand that the United States not only
immediately and unconditionally end the criminal
blockade it has imposed against the Cuban
people, but that it also release the five Cuban
anti-terrorist fighters held hostage in the prisons
of the empire solely for seeking to prevent illegal
actions that terrorist groups are preparing against
Cuba, under the protection of the Government of
the United States.
  “We wish to reiterate that it is impossible to
ignore the crisis in the United Nations. In 2005,
before this very General Assembly, we declared
that the model of the United Nations was
obsolete. Back then, we also said that it needed to
be rebuilt from the ground up, and that the
process could not be postponed.
  “Since then, nothing has been done. The
political will of the most powerful has prevailed.
Of course, the United Nations, as it continues to
function, docilely serves their interests. If its
Secretary-General, along with the President of the
International Criminal Court, takes part in an act
of war, as is the case with Libya, then nothing can

5 11-51681

be expected from the current structure of this
Organization, and there is no longer time for
reform. The United Nations does not accept any
reform whatsoever. The illness within it is fatal.
  “It is unbearable that there is a Security
Council that turns its back, whenever it wants to,
on the clamour of a majority of nations,
deliberately refusing to acknowledge the will of
the General Assembly. If the Security Council is a
kind of club with privileged members, what can
the General Assembly do? What is the scope of
its operation when its members violate
international law?
  “Paraphrasing the liberator Simón Bolívar,
who was referring specifically, in 1818, to the
then newborn Yankee imperialism, we have had
enough of laws being applied by the weak and
abuses being committed by the strong. The
peoples of the South cannot be the ones to respect
international law, while the North violates,
destroys and plunders us.
  “If we do not commit ourselves once and
for all to restructuring the United Nations, this
Organization will definitively lose its last shred
of credibility. Its crisis of legitimacy is
accelerating toward a final implosion. In fact, that
is what happened to its immediate predecessor:
the League of Nations.
  “A crucial and decisive first step towards
restructuring the United Nations would be to
eliminate the category of permanent member
along with the right to veto in the Security
Council. Likewise, the decision-making power of
the General Assembly must be democratically
maximized. A comprehensive review of the
Charter of the United Nations is also urgently
required, with the aim of drafting a new Charter.
  “The future of a peaceful, multipolar world
depends on the determination of the majority of
the world’s people to defend ourselves from the
new colonialism and to achieve a balance in the
universe that will be capable of neutralizing
imperialism and its arrogance.
  “This broad, generous, respectful and
inclusive call is addressed to all the peoples of
the world, but most especially to the emerging
Powers of the South, which must courageously
rise to the role they are being asked to play.
  “From Latin America and the Caribbean, a
powerful dynamic of regional alliances has
emerged that seeks to create a democratic space
that will be respectful of differences and eager to
emphasize solidarity and complementarity in
order to maximize that which unites us and
resolve politically whatever divides us.
  “This new regionalism allows for diversity
and respects everyone’s rhythms. The Bolivarian
Alliance for the Peoples of Our America is
growing into an experimental vanguard of
progressive and anti-imperialist Governments,
seeking ways to break with the prevailing
international order and strengthening the people’s
capacity to confront the de facto Powers.
However, that does not prevent its members from
contributing decisively and enthusiastically to the
consolidation of the Union of South American
Nations, a political bloc that federates
12 sovereign States of South America into what
the liberator Simón Bolívar called ‘a Nation of
Republics’. Furthermore, the 33 countries that
comprise Latin America and the Caribbean are
currently preparing to take the historic step of
establishing a single great regional entity that
unites us all, without exception, through which
we will be able to design policies that will ensure
our well-being, our independence and our
sovereignty, based on equality, solidarity, and
reciprocity.
  “Caracas, the capital of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela, is proud to be able to
host, on 2 and 3 December of this year, the
summit of heads of State and Government that
will definitely establish the Community of Latin
American and Caribbean States.
  “The people of Venezuela have placed their
hopes in a broad alliance of regional assemblies
of the South, such as the Union of South
American Nations, the Caribbean Community, the
Central American Integration System, the African
Union, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and the Economic Cooperation
Organization, among other regional
organizations, and specifically in interregional
coordinating bodies of emerging Powers such as

11-51681 6

the BRICS group — consisting of Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa — which must
become a focus of attention in coordination with
the peoples of the South.
  “I would like to conclude by recalling the
great Venezuelan singer Ali Primera, whose
poetic voice sent a message of life and revolution
to our people. In one of his songs, he asks: what
is man’s struggle to achieve peace? And what
kind of peace would it be, if we were to leave the
world as it is? Today more than ever, the worst
crime against peace would be to leave the world
as it is; if we were to do so, the present and the
future would be characterized by unending war.
Bringing about peace, on the other hand, requires
a radical rejection of everything that prevents
humankind from being human.”


It is a
great honour and a privilege for me to address this
Assembly for the first time since I took office as
President of the Union of the Comoros, on 26 May.
 Allow me at the outset to warmly congratulate
His Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his
election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-sixth session. I wish also to congratulate His
Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss and his entire team on
their remarkable work. Lastly, I should like to pay a
well-deserved tribute to the Secretary-General, His
Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his commendable
and unceasing efforts to ensure that our Organization
can better meet its objectives in a world increasingly
marked by all kinds of crises: political, economic,
social and environmental.
 The Assembly is convening in its sixty-sixth
session at a time when all humankind is struggling
through one of its most difficult times. Indeed, peace,
the most precious common good in the world, has
never been more threatened. It is under threat on all of
our continents, in our regions, in our subregions and in
every one of our countries. It is threatened by political
crises, diseases and natural disasters. It is also
threatened by poor living conditions, unemployment,
insecurity and underdevelopment.
 The hotspots that have emerged in various
regions of the world and the recent uprisings in North
Africa and the Middle East have claimed, and continue
to claim, many victims. Our countries continue to be
burdened by emerging diseases, but also and especially
by non-communicable diseases. In fact, cancers,
diabetes and, in particular, cardiovascular diseases
have taken many lives in our countries and threaten
their development.
 The problem of education and the lack of basic
infrastructure, energy and potable water also pose a
threat to peace and security in many developing
countries. Moreover, no country today is safe from
natural disasters linked to climate change. This
situation is all the more tragic in small island
developing States such as mine.
 I need not mention the toxic effects of the
financial crisis, which continues to affect our countries
and seriously compromises the future of the global
economy. Therefore, I should like to issue an urgent
appeal to the international community to enhance its
role in seeking rapid resolutions of all of these crises.
 Indeed, only by working together and effectively
to fight disease will we be able to ensure that our
populations are healthy and our human resources are
more productive. By joining our efforts, we may also
curb unemployment through education and job creation
and succeed in re-launching the socio-economic
development of our countries. In addition, eradicating
corruption — which is increasingly rampant in our
countries — will help us succeed in re-launching
development, which is an essential factor of peace and
stability. Moreover, by strengthening the culture of
democracy and rule of law, our countries will evolve
towards greater peace and stability, which are key
conditions for sustainable development.
 The President took the Chair.
 We must further develop solidarity among the
member countries of this concert of nations. That must
be done to bring our world out of its vulnerable state.
The efforts of the developing countries in increasingly
difficult situations will not succeed without active
solidarity. The quasi-collective mobilization effort seen
today in Europe and generally in the West to stem the
financial crisis is most commendable. However, it must
be extended to other sectors and continents. Likewise,
it is indeed appropriate to act swiftly and in unison to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals, which
have inspired so much hope in our countries.
 In this world in crisis, the Union of the Comoros
has for the second time experienced an exemplary,
peaceful change at the top level of the State. However,
its solid footing in democracy and good governance
will become truly irreversible only when poverty,
misery and vulnerability cease to exist. That is why we
have taken measures to fight corruption and to better
use our national resources and preserve and protect
biodiversity. Indeed, as a small island developing State
that is directly concerned, we attach very special
attention to the question of climate change and the
environment. We work every day to improve the
standard of living of our fellow citizens. But we also
need the support of the international community.
 In addition, and despite its difficult situation, my
country will never set aside its responsibility to act
within the international community. We intend to offer
our modest contribution to mankind’s quest for a better
world. Thus we take an active part in building peace
and security by participating in the Eastern Africa
Standby Brigade, in accordance with the requests of

11-51191 28

the international community. While we are aware that
our means are modest, we intend to play our role
within the African Union-United Nations Hybrid
Operation in Darfur, because promoting peace
anywhere in the world, particularly in Africa, remains
for us a major imperative.
 Terrorism, piracy and other transborder organized
crime, including the trafficking of drugs and light
weapons, are direct threats today to human security and
to the national security of many countries. My country
is doing its best to combat those scourges. But the
international community must also provide greater
assistance towards prevention, both structurally and
operationally. Early warning mechanisms, exchanges
of information and experiences, mutual assistance in
training, organization and capacity-building will enable
States and regional organizations, particularly the
African Union, to enhance their capacities.
 Issues that have remained unresolved, sometimes
for decades, are sources of conflicts likely to
jeopardize the cause of peace and security. That is the
case in the question of Madagascar. The political crisis
affecting the brotherly people of Madagascar deserves
the full attention of the international community. The
current efforts of the transitional Government, under
the aegis of the Southern African Development
Community, call for multiform support from the
international community so that that large island can
finally regain peace and security for the well-being of
its people.
 The same is true with regard to the question of
Palestine. The Comoros has always supported the
struggle of the brotherly Palestinian people and
supports the request of the Palestinian authorities to the
international community for the recognition of a
Palestinian State in its borders of June 1967, with East
Jerusalem as its capital. Indeed, for more than 30 years
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands has remained
an unresolved issue. As for my country, it supports that
recognition and appeals to all countries that love peace,
freedom and justice to do the same.
 The Union of the Comoros cannot have any other
position on that question, since it is directly concerned
by another equally sensitive question that affects not
only its national unity, territorial integrity and history,
and international law, but also peace in the Indian
Ocean region. Here I refer to the question of the
Comorian island of Mayotte.
 Allow me to emphasize that the inclusion of the
question of the Comorian island of Mayotte on the
agenda of several sessions of the General Assembly
and in relevant resolutions of the Assembly, the African
Union, the League of Arab States and the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation has not yet provided a solution
to this thorny question, which has placed us in
opposition to France for decades.
 As the Assembly is aware, the unilateral decision
of France to make the Comorian island of Mayotte a
département is for us and for the international
community null and void and can in no way be
considered a fait accompli. Furthermore, the visa
regime imposed by the French authorities on
Comorians of the three other islands has broken up
many families by turning the sea channel that separates
Mayotte from its sister island Anjouan into a huge
cemetery, where rest the remains of thousands of my
compatriots who only wished to gain access to a part of
their territory.
 However, we cannot simply continue to condemn
without any follow-up, or maintain fixed positions that
do not contribute to the settlement of the issue, while
we continue daily to witness many losses due to the
visa regime imposed by France.
 Therefore, I wish to reiterate from this rostrum
my country’s legitimate determination to continue to
claim the reintegration of the Comorian island of
Mayotte as part of its natural grouping. However, we
hope to be able to conduct this struggle by means of
the necessary negotiations with France — an economic
partner of the Comoros — but also and above all
through including our brothers and sisters in Mayotte,
because there can be no realistic and lasting solution to
the dispute without their involvement.
 That is the new approach that I proposed as soon
as I was inaugurated to settle the territorial conflict that
has divided my country and France for just over
30 years. Indeed, I believe that any search for a
solution to this thorny problem must include our
Mahorais brothers and sisters, with whom we share ties
knitted through history, blood, language, religion and
culture. We believe that the large Comorian diaspora in
France and the island of Réunion can join with its
brothers and sisters of Mayotte and the other three
Comorian islands in order finally to renew their natural
bonds, carry out projects and live out their common
destiny in harmony.

29 11-51191

 In this light, and in our desire to see this problem —
which has lasted too long — be finally settled
favourably and peacefully, that we hope to promote the
negotiations with France and our Mahorais brothers
and sisters that we believe to be essential.
 Speaking of territorial integrity, I would like to
make particular mention of countries that occupy a
special place in Comorians’ hearts. For the Kingdom of
Morocco, a brother country whose legitimate positions
on the Western Sahara my country has always
supported, I hope that the dialogue being held under
the auspices of the United Nations will quickly lead to
a peaceful solution to the problem. To the People’s
Republic of China, that great country and friend to the
Comoros, we here reaffirm our unfailing support for it
in its legitimate struggle for one China, developing in
peace and prosperity.
 I cannot speak of justice and equity without
bringing up the need for internal reform of our
Organization, particularly the Security Council. We
believe that only better representation of every
continent on the Council, including the essential
African presence as a permanent member, can ensure
better cohesion within the international community and
thus do away with frustration and antagonism.
 In conclusion, I would like to thank all the
friendly countries and the regional and international
organizations that continue to support us in multiple
ways in our efforts to re-launch our country’s
socio-economic development. In particular, I thank
Qatar, which hosted the conference on assistance in
investment and development in the Comoros, the
commitments for which have begun to materialize,
thanks to the untiring efforts of high-level Qatari
authorities. I would also like to thank the American
Administration for its kind efforts to make our stay in
this great and beautiful country enjoyable.