Allow me to begin by
congratulating Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann upon
his assumption of the office of President of the General
Assembly. I wish him success in his responsibilities
and endeavours. I also wish to express my appreciation
and respect to his predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for
his effective leadership during the sixty-second session
of the General Assembly.
I shall be brief. I would like to speak today about
the following three issues: the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and the prospects for
realizing them; natural disasters and humanitarian
assistance; and the war between Georgia and Russia,
along with some of the conclusions that can be drawn
from it.
Let me begin with the Millennium Development
Goals. We must bear in mind that over half of the time
originally allotted for achieving the Goals is already
behind us. Yet, have we actually reached half our
goals? As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported
here 20 days ago, there are reasons to doubt that we
have. Some achievements can be regarded as
noteworthy progress, for example greater access to
education, a marked reduction in infant mortality, debt
relief for developing countries, an increase in access to
information and communication technology for people
in developing countries, and so on. We have also made
certain progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
At the same time, however, progress in the
spheres of trade and development cooperation has been
modest. From the Secretary-General’s report, it is clear
that, although the donor States have increased their
official development aid, the actual flow of financial
assistance in the course of the past two years has
actually decreased.
The European Union, of which Estonia is a
member, is on the whole, on track towards increasing
its development aid to 0.7 per cent of its gross national
income, the objective agreed at the United Nations.
Estonia has steadily increased its share among
international donors; our development aid has grown
fourfold since 2004.
In addition to the actual decrease in development
aid, we suffered a serious setback when the Doha
Development Round of trade negotiations stalled and
where the main theme has been a more efficient
integration of developing countries into a world trading
system based upon equality and regulations.
I would now like to set forth several positions
based upon matters of principle that Estonia regards as
essential, and which are also part of the United Nations
Millennium Declaration.
First, every nation is primarily responsible for its
own development. In order to ensure their proper
development, developing countries must strengthen
their administrative infrastructure and capacity,
intensify their fight against corruption and put their
economic environment in order. That is the only way
to create conditions suitable for an efficient mode of
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transferring development aid and for increasing the
benefits of the aid received.
High levels of corruption, inefficient
administrative capacity and an unresponsive economic
climate make it difficult for donor-nation public
opinion to support increases in development aid. In a
word, our electorates — and here I am of course
speaking of democratic countries with free and fair
elections — do not understand why their taxes are
spent that way.
Secondly, donor States and organizations can
enhance the effectiveness of development cooperation
by mutually coordinating and standardizing the
procedures involved in development cooperation.
Finally, I would like to stress that Estonia
strongly supports British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown’s and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s
initiative, the Millennium Development Goals Call to
Action. The objective is to inform the general public of
the importance of fulfilling the objectives of the
Millennium Development Goals programme. This year,
Estonia also joined that initiative. I personally hope
that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was right when he
said that the MDGs are still achievable if we act now.
The second Wednesday of October is the
International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction. In
that connection, as opposed to the fight against poverty
or diseases, we cannot of course set objectives for
ourselves that can be expressed in monetary amounts.
We can, however, formulate and implement measures
that can help to minimize the dangers and threats to
people and their property, and to avoid or reduce
destruction to physical infrastructure and the
environment. We can thereby limit losses and alleviate
the suffering of people. That, in turn, can prevent the
social and economic convulsions that natural
catastrophes have on repeated occasions triggered
throughout history.
In the case of humanitarian catastrophes, be they
natural or man-made disasters, it is of the utmost
importance that help arrive on the scene as quickly as
possible and that the access of humanitarian experts be
ensured, regardless of their nationality or the State or
organization that they represent. Unfortunately, there
have recently been a number of occasions when
various countries have permitted help from abroad only
under very specific conditions. As a result of such
policies, it is the weakest and the most vulnerable who
suffer the most.
As I said earlier, I would like to talk about recent
and ongoing events in the southern Caucasus,
specifically the military conflict between Georgia and
Russia. There are a series of complex issues involved,
but here in the General Assembly I would like to raise
one fundamental question: What do those events mean
for us, the United Nations?
To begin with, we must realize that the principles
governing relations between States have been seriously
damaged. It is regrettable in the extreme that the basic
principles of the United Nations as enshrined in the
Charter, such as the unacceptability of threatening the
use of force or actual aggression against a nation’s
territorial integrity, were grossly and grotesquely
violated. Those principles must be and must remain the
bases for the activity of the United Nations and the
Security Council. Therefore, we have the right to
demand and ensure that the United Nations be capable
of convincing one Member to withdraw its military
forces from the territory of another sovereign Member
State and to terminate its aggression.
The capacity of the United Nations to fulfil the
expectations placed upon it cannot be dependent upon
whether said Member nation chooses or not to act
according to the good practices of international law. In
the alternative case, the United Nations loses its reason
for existence. We cannot allow international law to be
followed selectively and only when convenient, for
then it is no longer law.
Russia’s behaviour in the weeks following the
cessation of combat activity showed us that,
unfortunately, even in the first decade of the twenty-
first century, it is possible to refuse to adhere to
international treaties, to interpret them arbitrarily and
to observe international laws only when it serves one’s
interest. A permanent member of the Security Council
should be especially committed to fulfilling the
principles of the Charter of the United Nations. That
forces us once more to conclude that, in the interests of
the international community, it is imperative to
improve the capacity of the United Nations to regulate
and resolve conflicts. Looking at recent events, it has
become quite clear how important it is to proceed with
the reform of the Security Council.
The previous month’s events in the southern
Caucasus raised another issue. Even before the armed
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conflict broke out, Georgia was the target of a
cyberwar aimed at Government websites, as well as
those of news agencies and banks. In the case of
cyberattacks and cyberwarfare, it is becoming ever
more difficult to determine and apprehend the
perpetrators. As I stated last year from this very
rostrum, cyberattacks are an international problem —
indeed, a form of aggression — that no nation is able
to deal with on its own. Cyberattacks can be launched
against any nation on any continent, and from any
continent.
Administering and policing the cyberworld to
avoid criminal and hostile attacks requires extensive
cooperation and the standardization of relevant
international regulations. I call upon all United Nations
Member nations to deal with the risks associated with
cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness. Estonia,
which has extensive experience dealing with and
repulsing cyberattacks, is ready to contribute its
expertise to thwarting that new form of criminal
warfare.