I wish to begin by
congratulating Mr. d’Escoto Brockmann on assuming
the post of President of the General Assembly at its
current session.
Today I shall start by addressing the security
situation in the world. During the past year, the
international community has deepened its
understanding of frozen conflicts. Frozen does not
mean resolved; it means that those conflicts are able to
re-emerge. Therefore, I am particularly glad that
significant progress has been achieved towards
resolving long-lasting conflicts in some regions.
First, I would like to mention Kosovo. Strong
involvement by the United Nations, the European
Union (EU) and the United States helped to resolve a
protracted conflict in the Balkans. Now we need to
focus our efforts on the development of Kosovo’s
statehood: political stability, economic prosperity,
security and good relations with its neighbours.
I welcome the decision of the Secretary-General
to reconfigure the United Nations Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo. It is necessary to
continue the constructive cooperation between the
United Nations and the EU so that the Kosovo Mission
can be fully deployed. That is important both for
Kosovo and for the entire West Balkans region.
The international community has also made
remarkable efforts to assist Afghanistan in building a
democratic, prosperous and secure State. Large and
small countries and civilian and military organizations
from all over the world are working together to fulfil
our common aspiration to peace and stability.
We must not undermine that immense effort by
being impatient. The war ravaged Afghanistan for
20 years; it will take at least as much time to rebuild a
peaceful society. The international community must
push ahead until that long-term aim is achieved.
Latvia is increasing its commitment to the Afghan
people in terms of development and security
assistance. We are focusing our civil engagement on
ensuring good governance and a strong judiciary and
on meeting the basic needs of the Afghan people.
The prospects for peace and stability in the
Middle East affect the whole world. Latvia hopes that
the peace negotiations between the Government of
Israel and the Palestinian Authority will produce
results. We hope that the parties will use the window of
opportunity to conclude a peace agreement by the end
of 2008. The indirect talks that have resumed between
Israel and Syria are another positive signal.
Latvia welcomes the stabilization process in
Lebanon. We hope that the Doha agreement will be
fully implemented and that it will serve as a solid
foundation for renewed political stability, national
unity and sustainable economic development in the
country.
Not all of the developments over the past year
have been positive. We have witnessed new challenges
to the law-based international system. We should ask
ourselves whether we, as the international community,
can accept the fact that peacekeeping troops protect
only one side involved in a conflict. Can we accept the
fact that peacekeeping forces are occupying territories
that are clearly outside the conflict zones? Can we
accept the fact that the protection of nationals abroad is
being used as a pretext for a large-scale use of force in
another State without the approval of the Security
Council?
All those questions arise from the international
response to the recent war in Georgia. If they matter to
us, we should have a clear plan to resolve the Georgian
crisis. The most important task is adherence to and
implementation of the six-point ceasefire agreement on
the part of the Russian Federation. First, foreign troops
must be removed from all Georgian soil. Equally
important is the establishment of an EU monitoring
mission to normalize the situation in Georgia.
For 15 years now, the United Nations has
mandated the United Nations Observer Mission in
Georgia. We must ensure that there are no obstacles to
the continuation of that effort. I call upon world leaders
to come together not only to provide humanitarian aid
to Georgia, but also to ensure a massive international
effort to help rebuild the country’s economy and
infrastructure.
It is about time that we seriously examine our
development commitments. The time between now and
2015 may seem long, but it is less than the time that
has elapsed since the adoption of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000. Two days ago, I
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participated in the high-level meeting on Africa’s
development needs, and tomorrow I will participate in
the high-level event on the MDGs. Those are important
efforts aimed at giving the issue the top priority that it
deserves. We must significantly accelerate the
processes for achieving the MDGs by 2015. A clearer
picture of what we must achieve in the interim in each
of the main clusters of the MDGs — health, education,
growth and climate change — is what the United
Nations needs immediately.
We also need a clearer picture of the required
division of labour among various actors, and we need
to develop a shared sense of progress. A clear plan of
action is what we need right now. Therefore, Latvia
strongly supports the EU Call for Action initiative on
the MDGs. Climate change will have a major negative
bearing on the achievement of the MDGs. Latvia
supports broader use of renewable energy resources to
reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However,
climate change cannot be seen as an exclusively
environmental challenge; we need a more integrated
approach.
Changes to energy consumption patterns must be
taken into account as we move towards sustainable
development, food security and worldwide trade.
Innovative technologies, as well as sustainable
production and consumption, would deliver both
midterm and long-term results. Carbon dioxide
emissions cannot be cut in some regions while others
do nothing. While each of our countries must commit
to cutting emissions, success will be possible only if
there is a truly global agreement that enables us to do
so and tells us how. The United Nations, as the only
truly global Organization, must play a decisive role.
Trade liberalization is an important contributor to
the achievement of the MDGs. Although the recent
trade liberalization efforts at the World Trade
Organization were not successful, the process must be
continued at the multilateral level.
Globalization has brought with it both increased
prosperity and increased risks. We need to find a way
to ensure that tomorrow’s globalization will offer
growing prosperity to all people. Globalization will
produce benefits on a truly global scale only if trade is
liberalized across the board. Every country and every
region must do its fair share in that process.
I would like to congratulate Ms. Navanethem
Pillay, the new United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, on the assumption of her duties and to
wish her every success in that highly important post. I
would also like to thank Ms. Louise Arbour for her
invaluable contribution to the promotion and protection
of human rights.
This year, symbolically, the sixtieth anniversary
of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights coincides with the ninetieth anniversary of the
founding of the Republic of Latvia. In 1918, the Act of
Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia declared:
“All citizens, irrespective of their ethnicity, are
asked to help, for the rights of all people will be
guaranteed in Latvia. It will be a democratic and
just State where oppression and injustice do not
exist”.
I am truly proud of that statement. Thirty years before
the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the Republic of Latvia declared its adherence to
the same core values and principles and fully
implemented them in the newly established State.
Unfortunately, by the time the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights had been adopted, Latvia
had come under foreign occupation and its people had
been deprived of their right to freely determine their
political status and were being subjected to oppression
and injustice. It was only in 1991 that Latvia restored
its statehood and the continuity of its commitment to
fundamental human rights, inherent human dignity,
equality and the universality of those values.
The creation of the Human Rights Council and
the beginning of the Universal Periodic Review are
important steps aimed at promoting the values of the
Universal Declaration. The special procedures of the
Human Rights Council play a particular role in that
regard. Latvia expresses its full support for them and
urges all United Nations Members to cooperate fully
with the special procedures, including by issuing
standing invitations to them.
Latvia is ready to share with the international
community its experience in the area of promoting
human rights. Latvia has put forward its candidacy for
the Human Rights Council for the year 2014.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the
adoption of the Rome Statute establishing the
International Criminal Court (ICC). We welcome the
progress the Court has achieved in its analyses,
investigations and judicial proceedings. We call upon
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all States to ensure full cooperation with the Court. The
ICC is not an instrument that can be activated or
deactivated according to political expediency. We are
convinced that universality of justice is a prerequisite
for sustainable peace.
Effective multilateralism requires combining
greater awareness of the nature of the risks we face
with a contemporary understanding of how
international politics are forged today. International
organizations are only one part of our global system,
and often that part is the most resistant to change. It is
regrettable that the enthusiasm and momentum
generated during the 2005 World Summit in reforming
this universal international body has somewhat faded.
Reform of the Security Council is long overdue.
We must move on from the discussion of procedure
into a discussion of substance. We welcome the recent
decision by the General Assembly to continue
immediately within the Open-ended Working Group on
the Question of Equitable Representation on and
Increase in the Membership of the Security Council
and Other Matters Related to the Security Council to
prepare intergovernmental negotiations on the question
of the Security Council’s expansion.
While recognizing the need for structural reform
of the United Nations, we should not lose sight of
making more effective use of existing capacity.
Management reform is central to all those efforts. We
support further measures aimed at ensuring greater
transparency, enhanced accountability and strict budget
discipline. There has been some progress, but not
enough by far.
We live in a world with deteriorating security, a
growing population, the consequences of climate
change and market turbulence aggravated by high
energy and food prices. We need deeper engagement
with the risks we face globally. That requires a new
commitment to our values and a willingness to work
for an international system that has a vision of the
future at its heart. I would like that to become the
driving force for all the work of the General Assembly
at this sixty-third session.