Sophocles said that all mankind is subject to error. We
are gathered here in this Assembly in order to limit the
scope of those errors and to ensure respect for the
mandate of the United Nations. My Government fully
agrees with the objectives and ideas expressed by
President Nicolas Sarkozy as President of the European
Union (see ).
There is much that remains to be done and many
obstacles to be overcome: armed conflict, hunger,
poverty, environmental degradation, terrorism,
organized crime, human trafficking, lack of respect for
human rights and the abuse of power. All these things
threaten what we wish to build in the United Nations: a
community of States that enjoys progress, peace and
prosperity.
Add the economic crisis the world faces now to
those scourges, and it becomes difficult not to see the
future as dark and menacing. As the poet Yeats
described, we live in a world where
(spoke in English)
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are
full of passionate intensity.”
(spoke in French)
During this critical period, every country must
make a choice: either to focus solely on its own limited
interests and promote nationalistic ends in order to
distract people’s attention from danger throughout the
world, or to look outwards, to open its mind and
borders and to commit to warning people that the only
way to face threats successfully is to do so together.
The history of Greece and the character of the Greek
people are such that we have chosen the second path. It
was in ancient Greece that society for the first time
developed those ideals that are cherished today by free
people throughout the world: democracy, equality and
individual rights. More recently, we have lived through
several wars, poverty and deprivation. Nevertheless, we
endured, and we have been able once again to grab hold
of the ideas that we were the first to profess.
We have not forgotten, however, what it is like to
feel fear and need. This is why we will continue to
work closely with all States, organizations and
institutions to ensure that all people can live in security
and can prosper and thrive.
The United Nations must be at the helm of this
effort. In order to play its role efficiently, the United
Nations needs increased support from us all,
particularly in its efforts to develop and improve.
Discussions about Security Council reforms and the
need to breathe new life into the General Assembly
have been going on for far too long. We hope that,
starting at this session, today, concrete measures will
be adopted to reach our objective.
(spoke in English)
This year we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Unfortunately, gross violations of human rights persist
throughout the world, and we Member States need to
redouble our efforts to reduce them. The Human Rights
Council could be a powerful force in that struggle, and
Greece has decided to become a candidate for
membership for the term beginning in 2012. We ask for
the Assembly’s support and trust.
Along with protecting human rights, the United
Nations must strengthen its efforts to alleviate the bitter
poverty that still grips many parts of the world. We need to
increase trade for development, and we regret the lack
of progress in the Doha Round. In 2000, we agreed on
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), probably
the most ambitious development project ever
undertaken by man. In terms of time, we are halfway
there. Yet a lot remains to be done. The progress
achieved so far is jeopardized by higher prices,
particularly for food and oil, and the global economic
slowdown. Our success will be judged primarily in
Africa.
We believe that one way to help jumpstart
development in Africa is to involve women in the
economy more extensively. Providing entrepreneurial
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opportunities to women at local, national and regional
levels will allow them to strengthen their role in
society, increase their involvement in education and
ultimately allow them to play a more active part in
decision-making. As the French social theorist Charles
Fourier said more than 200 years ago, “The extension
of women’s rights is the basic principle of all social
progress.”
The challenge of climate change, if not addressed,
threatens not only the MDGs but also the economic and
social stability of our world. We have to achieve, in
2009, a new, truly global agreement with ambitious,
binding mitigation targets. We also need a much
stronger effort on adaptation, where there is a huge
deficit between the needs and the actual financing
provided. That deficit is exacerbated by the fact that no
matter what we do, we are locked in for significant
climate change in the next three to four decades, which is
going to especially affect the less developed countries. It is
an unjust reality that those that are least to blame for the
creation of the problem are to suffer most.
Greece is moving to face this challenge. We have
signed, this week in New York, agreements with the
African Union and the Caribbean Community for
the funding of adaptation projects, and we plan to do
the same with the Alliance of Small Island States,
providing a total of €20 million for the next four years.
One might argue that this is just a drop in the adaptation
bucket. It is, however, a drop in an empty bucket.
Migration is a critical element in the development
of neglected regions, and the United Nations High-
level Dialogue on International Migration and
Development has taken the lead in dramatizing the
link. By hosting the third Global Forum on Migration
and Development in the fall of 2009, Greece aims to
provide a platform on which to explore solutions and
initiatives for the benefit of all countries and especially
for the immigrants themselves.
As heartbreaking as the suffering of immigrants
and refugees often is, nothing can compare to the
misery involved in human trafficking. Young women
who leave their homes in search of a better livelihood
are exploited, brutalized and forced into a life of
unspeakable depravity by the traffickers in human
misery who are involved in the international sex trade.
I say it is time for the international community to say
“Enough!” I urge all the members of the United
Nations to begin working together forcefully to put an
end to this blight on human dignity.
Along with protecting the weak and vulnerable,
the United Nations has the responsibility to act
forcefully and to protect the world from the kind of
fanaticism and extremism that cripples any social
programme. Terrorism poses a major threat to the
security of our countries, to the stability of our
democratic societies and to the rights and freedoms of
our citizens. Around the world, whether in Afghanistan
or Pakistan, Iraq or Yemen, the international
community must show its strong commitment to
combating terrorism while protecting human rights and
the rule of law.
On regional security, Greece is preparing to
assume the chairmanship of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) next
January. The OSCE — the world’s largest regional
security organization — can be a forum for frank and
fruitful talks on security issues and can contribute
effectively to such crucial concerns as early warning,
conflict prevention, crisis management and post-
conflict rehabilitation. Finland, the current Chair, has
made a major effort to promote positive discussions
among the OSCE States, and Greece intends to
continue that policy and try to resolve outstanding
issues.
The crisis in South Ossetia has created a volatile
situation that affects stability in all the South Caucasus
and has exacerbated international tension. Greece’s
position on that crisis is rooted in the principles that
have always guided our foreign policy — peaceful
settlement of disputes and respect for the sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity of States. In both
the European Union (EU) and NATO, we supported the
six-point agreement that helped end conflict in the
area, but we are anxious to see measures that will
alleviate the anger and mistrust that now pervade the
region.
In the broader Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is at the root of most of the problems, and the
region requires a comprehensive and lasting solution.
I think that we all agree that the peace process
relaunched last year at the Annapolis conference has
the potential to achieve tangible results and merits the
strong support of all of us.
In Lebanon, we welcome the presidential
election, the formation of the National Unity
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Government and the resumption of the national
dialogue. Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity should be respected, in conformity with the
relevant Security Council resolutions.
Turning to our immediate neighbourhood, Greece
is committed to a South-Eastern Europe where all
countries belong to the European and Euro-Atlantic
families. We were as pleased to welcome Croatia and
Albania to NATO a few months ago as we were to
welcome Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union
last year. We have been encouraged also by the recent
developments in Serbia, a country which grows closer
to Europe every day.
In the same spirit, we agree with our NATO allies
and European Union partners that invitations to the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia should be
extended when a mutually acceptable solution is
reached on the name issue. Greece will continue to be
guided by the letter and the spirit of Security Council
resolutions 817 (1993) and 845 (1993) on that issue,
and I want to take this opportunity to express our
appreciation to the Secretary-General and his Personal
Envoy, Mr. Matthew Nimetz, for their commitment and
their tireless efforts to settle the dispute.
The new reality of Kosovo requires continued
attention from the international community. The United
Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo has
done a good job providing security for Kosovo’s
population, and its successor, the European Union Rule
of Law Mission Kosovo, should assume its
responsibilities as soon as possible.
Beyond the Western Balkans, Greece continues
taking fruitful initiatives in the spirit of international
law and the United Nations Charter to broaden and
strengthen cooperation with Turkey. We are convinced
that modern Turkey, with a clear European orientation,
will add to the stability of our region. We therefore
support the European aspirations of Turkey as it moves
to meet the prerequisites set out in the negotiating
framework of the European Union. But words must be
matched with deeds. The principles of good-
neighbourly relations and peaceful settlement of
disputes with other nations are essential preconditions.
Yet 34 years after the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, a
sovereign United Nations and European Union member
State, Turkey continues to occupy over one third of the
island’s territory with nearly 40,000 troops. That
unacceptable situation is a flagrant violation of
international law, a threat to the security and welfare of
Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike, and a
serious obstacle to the stabilization of the region.
Greece has consistently supported Cyprus in its
natural and justified desire to see the withdrawal of all
occupation forces as part of a settlement for its
reunification as a bizonal, bicommunal federation with
intercommunal equality, a single sovereignty, a single
citizenship and a single international persona. Relevant
United Nations resolutions and principles exist to
provide the framework for a mutually acceptable
solution.
We thus welcomed the recent decision by Cypriot
President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot
leader Mehmet Ali Talat to resume negotiations under
the auspices of the Secretary-General. We believe that
a viable solution can be achieved by the Cypriots
themselves through negotiations between the two
communities without artificial deadlines and
arbitration. We shall continue to do everything possible
to facilitate a settlement, and we hope that Turkey will
also demonstrate flexibility and goodwill towards that
end.
As is obvious to all of us, the United Nations is
once again beset by a host of troubles that will require
the patience of Job to endure and the strength of
Hercules to confront. As individual States, we have no
hope of marshalling the strength to contemplate, let
alone battle, the dangers facing us. But together,
through the United Nations, we can find the resolve not
only to confront those awesome challenges but to
subdue the threat that they pose for humankind.