Estonia

Mr. President, first of all I would like to congratulate you on your election as President of the General Assembly at this session. We wish you success in this responsible task in a year that will be of great importance for the Organization. I would also like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the previous President of the Assembly, Ambassador Ismail, who showed exceptional commitment to the reform initiatives throughout the fifty-first session. That recently concluded session was an important step towards a reinforced United Nations which, with its universal membership, will have to be able to deal with serious problems facing the world today. We expect the fifty-second session of the General Assembly to be a decisive landmark in the renewal and restructuring of the United Nations — a major endeavour undertaken by Member States several years ago. In this respect we would like to pay tribute to the Secretary- General, who presented his report on this question to the General Assembly on 16 July. My Government lends its full support to Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his efforts. We also note with satisfaction that part of this package has already been implemented. Estonia is looking forward to an agreement within the foreseeable future concerning a response by Member States to the Secretary-General’s proposals. It is our sincere hope that Members will deal with this matter in a constructive manner and that a generally acceptable scheme for reforming the United Nations will be agreed upon. We are confident that all Member States will benefit from the reform of the Organization. I would now like to focus my address on points of specific relevance to present needs in the reform package. The aim of reform as a whole is to adapt the Organization to its new challenges, to make it more effective and efficient, more manageable and modern in every way. We are now remodelling this Organization to make it compatible with the twenty-first century. The world has changed — the United Nations has to change with it. Having criteria for the appraisal of performance seems to be of crucial importance. Result-based budgeting should assure a strengthened linkage between intergovernmental mandates and their efficient implementation. Enhanced cost effectiveness envisaged for 1998-1999 is also an encouraging sign. Estonia lends strong support to the idea of cutting the number of agenda items for future sessions. We also find the idea of consolidating the representation of different United Nations funds and programmes in Member States on common premises and under one flag to be very attractive. United Nations Houses would enhance the visibility of the Organization and provide a valuable source of information about it and its activities. I would like to note the positive experience Estonia has gathered in cooperation with the local United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country office. Many programmes vital to Estonia have materialized owing to the support of the UNDP. We highly appreciate this cooperation and hope that the future United Nations House will be able to use that valuable expertise. The financing of the United Nations is a question that interests all of us. Without adequate financing, the Organization would not be able to fulfil its mandate. This fifty-second session of the General Assembly must assess the impact of the Secretary-General’s proposed reforms on the programme budget for 1998-1999 and define a new scale of assessments for its Member States. Estonia supports the Secretary-General’s reform measures aimed at enhancing the Organization’s effectiveness and better implementation of its programmes by reducing excessive and unnecessary expenditures. With regard to the new scale of assessments, Estonia would like to see a more transparent scale based on the fundamental principle of capacity to pay to be adopted. All measures should lead towards putting the Organization on a sound and predictable financial footing. We believe that the main prerequisite for achieving this goal is that Member States clear their arrears to the regular as well as to the peacekeeping budgets. Estonia is committed to doing so. We welcome the appointment of Mrs. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, to the position of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Estonia supports the plan for the consolidation of the Centre for Human Rights and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights into one office. We would also like to stress the importance that we attach to adequate financing of the Organization’s human rights machinery. Two major events have occurred in the past year in the field of economic and social cooperation. The first of them was the adoption of the Agenda for Development. Estonia shares the perception of the importance of development issues for the United Nations. Health and education should also be high priorities. The second such event was the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly, the aim of which was to review the implementation of Agenda 21, the global plan of action for sustainable development adopted in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Although the special session acknowledged the positive results which have been achieved since Rio, it also expressed concern over worsened overall trends for sustainable development. In this regard, we expect the fifty-second session of the General Assembly to give further political impetus to the implementation of the mandates and tasks defined at the session. In Estonia, we believe that our task today is to provide the present generation with the safe, good-quality living environment and resources needed to promote a strong and diversified economy without compromising the needs of future generations. For that reason, over the last five years Estonia has signed, ratified and acceded to more than 40 bilateral and multilateral environment agreements and conventions. We have also established the Governmental Commission on Sustainable Development, led by the Prime Minister. Estonia is working closely with the countries in the Baltic Sea area to develop a Baltic region sustainable development strategy. I would like to stress the importance that we attach to the consideration of economic and social issues by the General Assembly. With this in view, the work of the Second and Third Main Committees should be rationalized in order to avoid any overlap and duplication. One of the central areas of the reform concerns renewing the Security Council. This year, Member States must continue efforts to achieve the goal of making the Council more representative and to improve its working methods. Estonia elaborated its position in cooperation with a group of smaller like-minded countries. We support enlargement in both existing categories. We also view Germany and Japan as potential new permanent members of the Council. The developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America should also be represented on a permanent basis. Disarmament has been one of the United Nations priority goals since its founding. In fact, disarmament efforts have yielded considerable progress. The conclusion of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty last year was an important step forward. One of the important responsibilities of the United Nations is managing conflicts — acting rapidly in the face of crises. Peacekeeping continues to be an important activity of the Organization. In recent years, we have been witnessing a change in the role of United Nations peacekeeping missions. United Nations peacekeepers have 2 been facing the challenge of dealing with internal conflicts throughout the world. Estonia is continuing to take part in United Nations peacekeeping. An Estonian company has recently completed its successful deployment in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Together with Latvia and Lithuania, we are looking forward to contributing a battalion of peacekeepers to the United Nations peacekeeping operations. The battalion, called BALTBAT, will be operational from the beginning of 1998. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all Member States of the Organization that have been participating in this project. The initial experience of Baltic peacekeepers in United Nations peacekeeping missions has shown how regional cooperation evolves into global cooperation. The Baltic preparedness to merge as a joint battalion is an element strengthening regional security. It proves our readiness to assume responsibility as well as our right to choose our own means of security. Estonia is currently contributing civilian police officers and military observers. We have also joined the United Nations peacekeeping standby arrangement. We strongly believe in the cooperation of the United Nations with regional organizations in all parts of the world. Reliance on the expertise and capacities of these organizations would allow us to avoid duplication and allocate scarce resources in the most effective manner. We do have examples of fruitful cooperation with regional entities. In Europe, we have been witnessing joint United Nations actions, in particular with the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe and with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). We would like to note that the structure and composition of regional organizations is changing. The European Union and NATO are gradually opening to new members. This is a very important phenomenon in the process towards enhancing stability and security in our region. Estonia associates its future with full membership in both of these organizations. In conclusion, let me express my sincere hope that on the eve of the twenty-first century mankind is willing to reverse its classical interpretation of the past so eloquently expressed at the dawn of this century by the English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy: “War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.” [Thomas Hardy, The Dynasts, pt. II, Spirit Sinister]