Slovakia

At the outset, I wish to convey thanks and appreciation to the Secretary- General for his true commitment to the fulfilment of the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The United Nations and its General Assembly are a unique tool, the one and only global forum that provides room for dialogue to discuss strategic visions and to seek policy-level solutions to the problems that we are jointly confronted with at the international, regional and national levels. It is our obligation and moral duty to search together for ways of bringing peace and prosperity to all humankind. Conflicts do not stop at borders. The world we live in is so interconnected that every problem is a problem for all of us and every threat is a threat faced by all. At the same time, every success is of benefit to all of us. Besides numerous indisputable benefits, the process of globalization introduces new challenges. I will mention just three challenges encountered in the early twenty-first century: the global economic crisis, environmental change and man-made threats, including terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. We need global partnership and cooperation. We need strong multilateralism. We need a proactive United Nations that can lead effectively on all fronts: political, economic, military, social and civil. We need a trustworthy United Nations that people can rely upon to save them from the scourge of war. We need to work together towards our common goal: peace, security and dignity for all. The Organization’s primary objective is to preserve peace and security in the world. We have been through an extremely challenging year full of unexpected twists and turns, including some severe new conflicts, grave violations of human rights, disease, famine, terrorism and extremism, as well as other threats to peace and security, which, unfortunately, we cannot always successfully prevent. Attacks have even occurred against diplomats and diplomatic missions, which we resolutely condemn as totally unacceptable. It is the way we go about resolving constantly occurring conflicts and the effectiveness of our responses to new threats that tells us how successful we are in meeting the objectives of the United Nations. Violence can never be the right way to settle a dispute. Open dialogue, respect for mutual differences and a joint search for solutions by peaceful means is the only way to proceed; there is no alternative. Therefore, we appreciate the appeal to concentrate specifically on that crucial aspect of international relations. We are all obliged under the Charter of the United Nations to resolve disputes by peaceful means so that peace and security are not at risk. The Charter provides us with a range of options, including negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and other peaceful means, which must be used effectively. Mediation under the auspices of the United Nations is key to resolving conflicts by peaceful means. Reinforcing United Nations mediation capacities, confidence-building, improved implementation of the Charter and enhanced respect for its provisions are central. While the nature of conflicts evolves and changes, their essence remains the same — achieving goals by violence. I refer not just to military battles. Famine and thirst have even more devastating consequences than weapons. Unfair distribution of wealth, social imbalances, poverty and the feeling of injustice remain breeding grounds for conflicts and disputes. Persons whose basic needs are met do not seek conflict; rather, they seek ways of making the best of their lives. In that context, I think that prevention is the most effective tool for ensuring peace, sustainable growth and a life of dignity. It is crucial to eliminate the primary causes of conflicts, including through poverty reduction, sustainable development, respect for human rights, the rule of law and respect for its instruments, building of democratic institutions, and arms control. Those are the basic building blocks of peace and prosperity. The United Nations, with its multipurpose focus, possesses the potential to effectively assist its Members in all those areas. But it must be adequately empowered to do so. However, we still differ considerably on what the United Nations should do, and how. Terrorism poses an imminent threat to every one of us, yet we are unable to find common grounds to describe its characteristics. Climate change has brought about crucial changes with concrete impacts on agricultural production, yet the production of greenhouse gases and emissions does not decline. The gap between the wealthy and the poor has been growing. An increasingly important role is being played by non-State actors — multinational corporations and speculative investors. The crisis has shown that even the strongest economies are vulnerable. They are vulnerable when they live on credit, when the moral hazard goes beyond what is sustainable. The crisis has shown that peace has its limits in every society, whether that society is more or less advanced. It is important for the global economy that the strongest economies are stable and, in particular, that they are aware of their responsibility for global development and the sustainability of social stability in the world. This is not only about the application of the principle of social solidarity; it is about the self-preservation of humankind. We therefore have to pursue a common target: to transform the United Nations into an effective Organization with a leading role in a new international environment. We need a political willingness on the part of all Members and a clear vision to adapt the United Nations to the global demands of the twenty- first century. One of the instruments for preventing conflicts is the elimination of poverty and ensuring sustainable development for all, and in all aspects. The United Nations has the necessary tools in its hands. At a time of fiscal constraints, we have to use the existing tools more effectively. We do not need to create new parallel or duplicate structures. At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), we agreed that we needed an inclusive, strong multilateral system that will be able to effectively address threats in the area of sustainable development. Such a system is crucial for enduring peace and, of course, for security. We support Sustainable Energy for All, an initiative launched by the Secretary-General. In the spirit of the initiative, we emphasize, among other things, the positive aspects of the use of nuclear energy in the energy and health care sectors. I am convinced that priority investments in research to increase the operational safety and security of nuclear power plants would be more useful than massive investment in the closure of functioning power plants. Slovakia is prepared to intensively and constructively cooperate with partners in order to maximize the effective functioning of the United Nations system in the economic, social, environmental and other areas. We support strengthening the Economic and Social Council and more effective cooperation of the Council with the General Assembly and other entities across the United Nations system. Slovakia takes seriously its moral duty to help developing countries and countries in distress. We have less than three years to go to accomplish the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. We need to step up our efforts. As a donor country, Slovakia contributes its share to addressing the pressing problems of global development. Despite its tight budget, Slovakia increases its total contribution to official development assistance every year. A secure and stable environment conducive to development cannot be achieved without effective arms control and universal disarmament as the fundamental instruments of conflict prevention. Slovakia is an advocate of a comprehensive, universal and binding arms trade treaty. Our objective is to curb irresponsible dealing in arms and to prevent their transfer to the hands of terrorists, criminals and other illicit groups. I regret that the years-long efforts of States, in cooperation with civil society, were not crowned with success at the July 2012 Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty. I believe that further negotiations will lead to a consensus on an effective agreement. A world free of nuclear weapons is one of the priorities long pursued by the international community. Although we have made some progress in this respect in recent years, there are still countries that are not parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We appreciate that a conference on a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction has been scheduled for December 2012 in Helsinki. We believe that despite the regrettable turmoil in the region and the unwillingness of some countries to cooperate, we will overcome the differences and jointly bring the conference to a successful conclusion, for the sake of our common goal, namely, peace and security in the Middle East without the fear of nuclear weapons. Success of the conference would also support long- lasting efforts to drive away concerns over the Iranian nuclear programme. Rocket tests performed by Iran do not contribute to belief that its nuclear programme serves a peaceful purpose. With regard to further improvements in the work of peacebuilding missions and increasing their effectiveness, I would like to mention three aspects that I consider crucial: first, cooperation among United Nations missions; secondly, the protection of civilians and the contributions to monitoring human rights; and, thirdly, the need to prepare a strategy for the transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding, that is, increased effectiveness in the implementation of security sector reform. More intensive cooperation among peacekeeping missions will allow for effective sharing of funds, equipment and personnel between neighbouring missions, as well as contribute to improving the capabilities of United Nations peacekeeping forces to adequately respond to unforeseen situations. The protection of civilians is one of the main objectives under the mandates of peacekeeping operations. It will enable the restoration of political processes in a country, including the implementation of measures aimed at the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of combatants, as well as of ordinary people affected by the conflict, including children. As the road from conflict to enduring peace is complicated, it is important that we prepare strategies for the peacekeeping forces to anticipate and transfer responsibility for peacekeeping in a host country with the aim of eliminating duplicate instruments and procedures. Last year, the international community devoted considerable attention and funds to support Afghanistan on its road towards responsibility for its own security and for meeting its obligations. Afghanistan remains the top-priority foreign military operation for Slovakia. Our troops will stay in Afghanistan as long as necessary. Security and stability also depend on a stable economy. Therefore we also wish to intensify our involvement in the area of development assistance. Afghanistan remains one of the three primary recipients of Slovakia’s official development assistance. At the same time, we support the central role of the United Nations and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in capacity-building and stabilization in Afghanistan. Wherever in the world human lives are at risk, the international community should be prepared to take resolute action. Allow me to express my deepest regret over the thousands of victims of the conflict in Syria. The Slovak Republic has joined the initiative requesting that the most serious crimes under international law committed in Syria be investigated by the International Criminal Court. The primary responsibility for the protection of its citizens is always borne by the Government and democratic institutions of a country. The aim is to build a country governed by the rule of law, respecting international principles and at the same time reflecting traditional common law. Slovakia is committed to the United Nations principles set out in the Charter. We believe that the key to resolving global problems in today’s interconnected world is an inclusive and effective multilateralism. Global threats to security, the economy, the environment or society know no borders and are so extensive that no country and no regional organization can alone respond to or defend against them effectively. We believe that, together, we will make progress on our agenda during the current session of the General Assembly. That is what our citizens expect from us.