It is my privilege to
address this forum and share with it the views of the
Republic of Macedonia on the issues of primary
importance on this year’s agenda of the General
Assembly and of the international community at large.
Terrorism is not a new world issue, but it has
unfortunately become our tragic daily reality, thus
rapidly gaining new and more devastating dimensions
in the increasingly globalized world. We are all
affected in one way or another — whether we speak
about actual terrorist attacks or threats.
The real question, however, is: can we or should
we, the nations of the world, continue to live in that
kind of atmosphere, to live in fear, threatened? It
would be a failure of humanity, of free spirit and
democracy, of prosperity and mankind, and finally, if I
may say so, a failure of all of us here at the United
Nations. Recently we adopted the United Nations
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. I believe it was
high time that we adopted a unified position and
strategy, that all of us gave a strong international
response. Comprehensive international cooperation and
coordination against this evil is equally important to
activities at the national and regional level. We need to
have results; the sooner, the better.
Outside this building, when the United Nations is
mentioned, for many peoples, even nations, it means
hope and help; it means peace; and it means cure. It
means also freedom, democracy and safety — it means
life. So the United Nations should not be shy to
respond, to act and to resolve when it is asked. The
United Nations has to react. Only by resolving
problems do we make progress. We have to follow and
react to the changes and to the new challenges that are
incoming.
The overall reform of the United Nations,
including better management, must be an ongoing
effort. There are still issues from the World Summit
Final Document yet to be delivered, such as mandate
review and Security Council reform, to name only
some. Hopefully, there will be enough understanding
and progress achieved on them too.
Last month we had yet another reminder of how
fragile world peace actually is. The Middle East again
erupted. We have witnessed how difficult it is to
restore peace, to hold a ceasefire and to send United
Nations peacekeepers there. Macedonia welcomed the
unanimous adoption of Security Council resolution
1701 (2006) of 11 August. Macedonia supports the
efforts of the United Nations and the international
community to provide timely humanitarian assistance
to those affected and for the reconstruction of Lebanon.
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The United Nations must fight to make a lasting
peaceful solution for the Middle East.
From the very beginning the Republic of
Macedonia has been part of the international
antiterrorist coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it
has recently increased its contingents as part of the
international forces. Peace- and democracy-building in
those two countries remains one of the key challenges
for the international community and the Iraqis and
Afghans themselves. I again reiterate Macedonia’s
support for their efforts to rebuild those countries and
create a better life for their people.
Last year at the Summit we reaffirmed our
commitment to the global partnership for development,
as set out in the Millennium Declaration, the
Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation. It is beyond doubt that every country
has a principal responsibility for its own development.
However, it is more than obvious that national
development efforts must be supported by global
actions. The contribution of the private sector and civil
society may play a critical role in our common
endeavour.
In addition to human rights standard setting, the
United Nations, since the adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, has been a guardian of
human rights. We trust that the recently established
Human Rights Council will give a new impetus in this
area. We hope that the Commission’s weaknesses will
be overcome, but we have to be aware that this requires
a strong political commitment on the part of the
membership. Guided by the wish to contribute to the
work of this important body, we have announced our
candidacy for membership for the 2009-2012 period.
Today Macedonia is a stable and functional
multi-ethnic democracy. Over recent years we have
launched and carried out a large number of reform
projects, which have brought us closer to the European
Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) alliance. In December last year Macedonia
was granted candidate status for European Union
membership. Macedonia rightfully expects that the
pace of the needed reforms the country is committed to
will lead to an opening of the negotiations on joining
the European Union. As for NATO, we expect the
invitation to join it at the next enlargement summit.
The region of south-eastern Europe to which my
country belongs has experienced significant changes in
the recent past and made considerable democratic
progress: the start of European Union accession
negotiations of Croatia and Turkey; Macedonia
becoming a candidate country for membership in the
European Union; the signing of the Stabilization and
Association Agreement with Albania; and the opening
of the negotiations for the same agreement with Serbia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, the newly
independent State. Furthermore, Romania and Bulgaria
are expected to become full European Union members
in a few months.
Good-neighbourly relations and regional
cooperation have been and are among the top priorities
of Macedonia’s foreign policy. We will continue to
pursue such a policy even more vigorously. There is no
alternative to dialogue, and all outstanding regional
issues should be resolved in that manner. This year the
Macedonian delegation will once again introduce in the
First Committee a resolution entitled “Maintenance of
international security — good-neighbourliness,
stability and development in South-Eastern Europe,”
which is traditionally widely supported and co-
sponsored by Member States.
I should like to say a few words about the Kosovo
issue and Kosovo’s future status. Macedonia fully
supports the work of the Secretary-General’s Special
Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, and his team on the Kosovo
status talks. I stress that every effort should be made to
achieve a negotiated settlement mutually acceptable to
the parties concerned, in line with Security Council
resolution 1244 (1999) and the Contact Group guiding
principles. The Republic of Macedonia, with its active
good-neighbourly policy, has been a factor that has
largely contributed, and continues to contribute, to the
final, overall stabilization and positive developments in
the region.
Yet there is one important, still pending, issue in
this context for the Republic of Macedonia: that of the
technical demarcation of our northern border on the
Kosovo section, in line with the agreement between the
Republic of Macedonia and the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, signed in February 2001, and the
recommendations made by the then Secretary-
General’s Special Envoy, Kai Eide. We urge that this
issue be closed in that manner before the final Kosovo
status decision is reached.
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I am confident that our deliberations will
contribute to creating a better world for all. Although
the debates at times show how different we are, our
differences must not be an obstacle to our common
vision. The personification of the hope of mankind for
a better tomorrow remains with the United Nations.