Greece

Let me begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly. You are assuming your duties at a difficult juncture in 25 international affairs. I am sure that, under your guidance, the Assembly will make a positive contribution to fostering peace and progress in the world. Allow me also to extend my warmest thanks to your predecessor, our good friend Mr. Jan Kavan, for his commitment and diligence. We fully subscribe to the statement delivered by Mr. Frattini on behalf of the European Union, as well as to the priorities of the European Union that he has laid out before the Assembly. When I held the presidency of the European Union, just a few months ago, I had the honour to work closely with the Secretary-General at a very crucial time. Secretary-General Kofi Annan often has to wage an uphill battle in his efforts to safeguard the moral authority of the United Nations and to carry out its mandate. His tireless efforts to promote peace and security worldwide deserve our fullest support. Indeed, this year the United Nations has undergone one of the most testing periods in its history. During the Iraqi crisis the world's citizens put great faith in the power of the United Nations to respond to the potential threat of weapons of mass destruction, while at the same time preserving peace and the legitimacy of international law. The leaders of the international community failed to unite around global public opinion, and a war ensued. As Kofi Annan told the Assembly, a new doctrine of pre-emptive force and unilateralist actions has called into question our long tradition of global consensus on collective security. Paradoxically, despite that crisis, our citizens expect more today from the United Nations, rather than less. Whether we are dealing with poverty, inequality, human rights violations, terrorism, pollution or weapons of mass destruction, the world looks to us for leadership. We are expected to transform today's insecurity into tomorrow's opportunities. That may seem like a tall order, but it is possible. It is possible today, as we are witnessing a growing consciousness about the need to think seriously about global governance. That consciousness has to do with the magnitude and complexity of the issues with which humankind is grappling. It also has to do with the fact that, in an era of globalization, a problem in another corner of the world can have major effects in our own neighbourhood of the global village. The legitimacy of the United Nations is at the heart of that debate. If we are to convince the more powerful of the world that unilateralism does not pay, we need to show that multilateralism is effective. We need to prove that organizations such as ours can deal effectively with threats to our peace and security. We need to rethink our institutions, which must be financially and politically viable. We must ensure that our institutions derive their legitimacy not only from the action we take and the just decisions we make, but from the fact that they are truly democratic and that they are representative of global consensus as far as possible. All that is possible, but it requires courageous changes certainly the courage to open up a sincere dialogue between citizens, countries, continents and civilizations. We therefore fully endorse the Secretary- General's proposal for the reform of the United Nations. By the time the Assembly meets next year, we need to have achieved realistic targets and tangible results, and to have re-evaluated the role of the various bodies of the United Nations and of their respective missions. The role of the Security Council is paramount, and its composition must be more representative in order to ensure full trust in its authority and legitimacy. The United Nations can become central in safeguarding humankind's security, peace and prosperity. Greece will work towards that goal if the General Assembly honours us by electing us to the Security Council for the 2005-2006 term. From the corner of the world I come from, I can seriously state that the prospect for peace is real. In the last century Greece lived through two World Wars, two Balkan wars, a major war with Turkey, a famine, a civil war, numerous dictatorships and confrontation with Turkey over Cyprus. We also became a major recipient of refugees from the crises, ethnic cleansing and wars in our region of South-Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Today there is hope in the Balkans that peace can become permanent, that democracy can flourish and that human beings can live together in dignity, irrespective of their religious, political or ethnic affiliation. Greece and Turkey have emerged from a long period of over 40 years of tension and suspicion when there was little contact and no bilateral agreements were ever signed. Twice in recent decades we went to the brink of war. Today I can stand before the Assembly and state that Greece and Turkey have ratified 14 agreements in areas ranging from tourism to agriculture and education to security. We have also agreed on 10 confidence-building measures and, although fundamental differences remain on specific 26 issues, we are now working cooperatively to try to deal with some of the most contentious and controversial questions that have divided us for decades. Further testimony of that improvement is the fact that, with my Turkish counterpart, Abdullah G¸l, we simultaneously submitted yesterday in this building our ratification instruments for the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines. In Cyprus, an island divided after Turkey's invasion and occupation in 1974, we perceive the common desire to build a democratic, united Cyprus where Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots can live together in peace. Last April, following the lifting of restrictions on free movement, thousands of Cypriots seized the opportunity to cross the so-called Green Line to meet with one another and to demonstrate that it is possible for them to share a common future. However, that easing of restrictions is not a substitute for a comprehensive settlement to the island's political problem. Over the years, Greece has actively supported the efforts of the Secretary-General to achieve a comprehensive settlement in conformity with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the principles on which the European Union is founded, namely, the Acquis Communautaire. Those resolutions must be implemented. We will not give up hope until all Cypriots can live together in harmony and security in a federal State with a single citizenship and without foreign troops on its territory. On 1 May 2004, Cyprus will be a full member of the European Union. We hold out the hope that the Annan plan will be used as a basis for negotiating, and that a solution will be found, so that the Turkish Cypriot population will also enjoy the security and prosperity that accession to the European Union will bring. It is possible. Yet all those sustained efforts for peace in the region would not have been possible if it were not for the creation of a viable, stable and sustainable framework of shared values, principles, visions and interests, as well as a deep commitment to respect of our citizen's rights and including a vision in which, as Pericles said in his Funeral Oration, one is free of suspicion of the other. That framework, vision and common values can be summed up in one phrase: our European Union. Fifty years ago, Europe was shattered by two world wars and countless regional conflicts. Through our common values of respect for the rule of law, democracy, freedom, and solidarity, we have overcome wars and the Holocaust and have seen the fall of the Berlin Wall. Today the European Union is a model of multilateralism, a system of collective governance that advances the shared interests and addresses the common problems of a coalition of nation-States that all aspire to peace and security in a common union. Europe may not have a magic wand that can solve all crises, but we have proved that it is possible to build a stable and democratic continent. It is that prospect that now unites us in the Balkans, gives hope to Greek- Turkish relations and creates a common vision for Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The United Nations can learn from our experience as it prepares to undertake necessary reforms. What the European Union has provided is not a magic wand. We have simply said that matters of war and peace are so important for humankind that they cannot merely be left up to leaders, no matter how great they may be. They cannot be left up to negotiators, no matter how skilful they may be. They cannot be left up to earthquakes, apocalypses or inspirations, however momentous they may be. What is needed is a stable, sustainable, secure environment of common values, international law, accepted practice and purpose. It is within that secure environment that we can work out roadmaps, benchmarks, milestones, target dates and goals that can become both credible and powerful tools for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the establishment of lasting institutions of stability and conviviality. That is why the United Nations has become so important for Iraq and its people. That is why the United Nations and the Quartet are so important for the implementation of the road map to solve the Palestinian conflict and the wider Middle East conflict. If we differed in Europe on the means of dealing with Iraq, we remain united in our conviction that the United Nations has a vital role to play in the reconstruction and stabilization process. Indeed, I would argue that the current predicament in Iraq is a stark reminder that multilateral cooperation is an imperative for world peace and security. It will only be possible to bring lasting peace to Iraq if we all work together. In referring to the importance of the role of the United Nations in Iraq we are simply stating the obvious need to create a stable international environment within which solutions can be nurtured, and where they can mature, in order to stabilize the region. It is within that context that it must be possible to realize a Palestinian State by 2005, a State that lives 27 side by side with a secure Israel. It is also within that context that during our presidency of the European Union we placed great emphasis on engaging in a meaningful dialogue of cultures that could hopefully heal the deepening rifts with regard to how different cultures view our changing world. We also devoted considerable efforts during Greece's presidency to strengthening Europe's relations with the Arab world. We hope that that dialogue can continue to be an investment in, and an instrument for, furthering peace, democracy and prosperity. Iraq challenged Europe to think globally. We realized that in order to safeguard our citizens' security we had to develop stronger foreign and defence policies. We took the initiative during our presidency to launch the first European security strategy. We are now creating more clearly defined defence policies and greater military and crisis-management capabilities. Last June, the European Union adopted its first strategy against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as a joint-action plan on terrorism. That was quickly followed by a framework agreement on weapons of mass destruction between the European Union and the United States. Similarly, problems such as terrorism, trafficking in drugs, arms and people, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction all point to a world where conflict is not confined to national frontiers. It is only logical to conclude that most problems can only be properly addressed through multilateral action and policies in our global village. Sustainable development will bring about sustainable peace. But sustainable peace also depends on the freedom of our citizens: freedom of choice, freedom to participate, freedom from oppression and freedom from fear and discrimination. Democracy bodes well for security, because security cannot be achieved without the legitimacy of our institutions and decisions. But democracy cannot be imposed, it must be nurtured. That is the difficult task ahead, namely, to create democratic processes in a trans-national way. That is becoming a global challenge that we cannot afford to ignore. It must be possible, otherwise we will always be prey to extremist forces that resort to violence, often exploiting the sense of exclusion among our citizens, many of whom feel excluded from prosperity and human rights. This year, such forces were responsible for the untimely deaths of three champions of democracy. Allow me to mention their names: Zoran Djindjić, Sergio Vieira de Mello and Anna Lindh. Their tragic deaths pose a critical challenge to the very freedom and democracy they fought so hard to defend. We must not allow the threat of violence, intolerance and fear to hold our democratic societies hostage. We must not let insecurity blind us to the simple truth that democracy holds the key to a world without violence. In our global village today, our challenge is to see to it that we have an international system that truly governs democratically. We must ask ourselves tough questions. How representative and accountable are our international institutions? Who decides on global rules and regulations? Who implements those decisions? Whose interests do they serve? Why do so many of our citizens feel moved to stage protests outside international summits? How can we address their grievances and include them in the decision-making process? If we can find satisfactory answers to these questions we will have come a long way towards replacing today's insecurity with tomorrow's opportunities. Building on our long history of democracy, Greece is committed to supporting and developing new democratic practices. One way to do so is through the Internet, which has created radical new possibilities for reinvigorating and enriching democratic dialogue. We created an on-line experiment during our presidency of the European Union that is called e-Vote, an electronic pilot project through which citizens can participate in ongoing debates. Three months from now, we will assemble at Geneva for the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society. There Greece will host a special conference on the promise of electronic democracy. I invite the entire Assembly to attend. Finally, in this global village we also need to have global festivals, even with our many difficulties, to celebrate humankind and our common values. The Olympic Games are one such festival. Greece will have the honour to host a great homecoming on the occasion of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. We have introduced in the General Assembly a new draft resolution on the subject of building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal. We want to encourage the notion that it is possible to create lasting peace from a pause in hostilities. The United Nations and, in particular, the Secretary-General have long championed the value of peaceful cooperation through sport. Since 1993, the 28 Assembly has unanimously adopted six resolutions calling for a truce during the Olympic Games. This draft resolution, like the ones before it, calls on all Member States to observe the Olympic Truce, the longest peace accord in ancient history. I urge the Assembly to support that draft resolution. Let us reaffirm our commitment to the spirit of peaceful cooperation upon which the Olympics were founded. Let us send a symbolic message from this international body of peace for a peaceful Olympics and, ultimately, for a more peaceful world. Let us prove that that too is possible.