Allow me first of all to
align myself with the very warm congratulations
addressed to you, Madam President, on your election to
your very important position. I would like to assure
you once again of the full support of my country in
your endeavours for further reform of our Organization
and for the consolidation of its role in the coming year.
I would also like to express our gratitude to the
previous President of the General Assembly, Mr. Jan
Eliasson, for his dedicated and efficient work and for
the achievements that were made in implementing
United Nations reforms.
I would also like to greet the newest member of
our large family, the Republic of Montenegro. I am
sure that that country from our region, South-East
Europe, will spare no effort in contributing to the work
of the United Nations.
(spoke in French)
Bulgaria is on the threshold of a historic
achievement. After 17 years of reforms to build
political democracy and a market economy, my country
is preparing to join the European Union (EU) on
1 January 2007. Our journey, although difficult, has
been successful. I am certain that, as a new member of
the Union, Bulgaria will contribute added value to the
European Common Foreign and Security Policy. We
will work with even greater determination for a strong
and effective United Nations, which must be at the
very centre of the global security and development
system. Bulgaria endorses the position set out earlier
by the Finnish presidency of the EU.
We welcome the fact that concrete outcomes have
been achieved in implementation of the radical reform
process launched at last year’s World Summit. We hope
that that the momentum will be maintained and that the
process, which is necessary and useful for all Member
countries, will move forward even more quickly.
I would like to express our profound respect and
gratitude to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for
his tireless efforts throughout the past decade to
strengthen the United Nations in a globalized world.
I would like to refer to the resolution that was
recently adopted on the revitalization of the work of
the General Assembly. The implementation of the
resolution should lead to enhanced coordination of the
work of the General Assembly, the Security Council
and the Economic and Social Council, and to a
strengthened role for the President of the General
Assembly, a streamlined agenda and improved methods
of work.
No United Nations reform effort would be
complete without the crucial element of Security
Council reform. Despite all the efforts made, we have
not yet been able to reach consensus on a viable
formula for Council expansion that can be supported
by all Member States. Bulgaria believes that any
reform exercise should increase the representativity
and legitimacy of the Council, while preserving the
effectiveness of its decisions and its key role in
maintaining peace and security. We also support efforts
to improve its working methods.
At the level of institutional reform, two new
United Nations bodies have been established: the
Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights
Council. Their potential will be realized in the future.
There are certain areas, however, where the desired
progress is far from being achieved: mandate review,
the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council,
17 06-53323
ensuring effective management and promoting
coordination among the agencies and bodies of the
United Nations system. Despite the challenges, our
work must continue at an accelerated pace with a view
to the achievement of concrete results during this
session.
I would like to point out that yesterday Bulgaria
deposited its instruments of ratification relating to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women and the United Nations
Convention against Corruption. We also attach great
importance to combating the traffic in human beings
and drugs, as well as to the fight against organized
crime.
Five years on from 11 September 2001, terrorism
in all its manifestations continues to pose a genuine
threat to human civilization. That is why Bulgaria
welcomes the launching of the United Nations Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy to fight that scourge at all
levels. The consensus that has emerged regarding the
Strategy must give impetus to the process of adopting a
comprehensive international convention on terrorism,
in accordance with the decisions taken at the 2005
World Summit. Such a convention would provide the
international community with an effective,
comprehensive, universal legal framework for the fight
against that scourge and give substance to its firm
condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations.
Bulgaria supports all initiatives to promote
dialogue and mutual understanding among people of
different religions, ethnic groups and cultures.
Bulgarian history and our national experience have
always been characterized by dialogue and tolerance.
In this context, we look forward to the
recommendations of the High-Level Panel of the
Alliance of Civilizations, and we will take part in their
implementation.
Bulgaria pursues a policy aimed at promoting
effective arms control, the non-proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and disarmament. We are
concerned about the genuine threat of destabilization
affecting legal instruments currently in force, in
particular the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT), because of non-compliance
with obligations and unilateral withdrawals by certain
States.
We support the entry into force of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We firmly
believe that the unresolved question of the Iranian
nuclear programme should be dealt with promptly, on
the basis of Security Council resolution 1696 (2006)
and relevant decisions of the International Atomic
Energy Agency. Likewise, we call for the
implementation of Security Council resolution 1695
(2006) and urge progress in the six-party talks on the
North Korean nuclear problem.
The United Nations must be endowed with
sufficient capacity to enable it to deploy
multidimensional peacekeeping operations that are
aimed not just at maintaining peace, but also at
strengthening the sovereignty of States and building
democratic institutions that will guarantee the stability
of peace processes. In this context, I would like to
point out that yesterday Bulgaria signed the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Security of United
Nations and Associated Personnel.
As a member of NATO and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, as a future
member of the European Union and as a country that
contributes troops to peacekeeping operations,
Bulgaria actively promotes effective partnership and
cooperation among the United Nations and regional
and subregional organizations in activities aimed at
conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.
Current cooperation between the European Union, the
United Nations and the African Union is an
encouraging example of such cooperation, which is
already bearing fruit.
My country is actively contributing to long-term
security and stability in South-East Europe. We
welcome the fact that the Balkans are now seen as a
region, not of crisis and conflict, but of cooperation
and integration. One convincing example of political
cooperation among the countries of that region is the
South-East Europe Cooperation Process. Bulgaria is
preparing to assume the chairmanship of that Process
in mid-2007, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that
that structure can support regional cooperation and
promote European and Euro-Atlantic integration in that
part of Europe.
In addressing our geographic region, I cannot
overlook the problem of Kosovo. Reaching a decision
on the future status of that province is on the agenda of
the international community. Bulgaria is playing a very
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active role in efforts aimed at creating the atmosphere
of trust and openness necessary for the holding of such
negotiations. We fully support the Special Envoy of the
Secretary-General, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, in his efforts
to find a solution, based on the maximum amount of
common ground, to which both parties could agree. We
call on the international community to let itself be
guided by the principles of sustainability, monitoring,
regional stability and the European perspective in
working out a final decision on the status of Kosovo.
Bulgaria attaches particular importance to the
situation in the Middle East. We welcome and support
the efforts of the Secretary-General and the Security
Council, as well as the key role being played by the
European Union in the expanded United Nations
Interim Force in Lebanon, which is called on to ensure
peace in southern Lebanon in implementation of
Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). Bulgaria will
make its own contribution to the international
community’s efforts to bring about lasting peace.
We remain convinced that the crisis in Israeli-
Palestinian relations would be best resolved by direct
negotiations between the countries concerned, based on
an absolute rejection of the use of force and with the
necessary support of the international community. We
support all of the efforts to that end on the part of the
Quartet, as presented yesterday here at the United
Nations.
Bulgaria greatly appreciates United Nations
initiatives relating to the stabilization of the political
and constitutional process in Iraq, as well as the
principles set out in the International Compact. We will
continue to meet our obligations in Iraq in support of
national institutions aimed at providing for the security
and prosperity of that country.
We support all positive trends towards
strengthening the sovereignty of Afghanistan. During
the past year, my country doubled its participation in
the International Security Assistance Force. We support
the Afghanistan Compact adopted at the London
Conference a few months ago.
We welcome the adoption of Security Council
resolution 1706 (2006), whose implementation will
assist in the implementation of the political agreements
recently reached on the Sudan. In our view, the
international community must take urgent action to
address the humanitarian tragedy in Darfur.
Bulgaria, with more than 50 years’ experience as
an active and responsible Member of our Organization,
and which has served three terms in the Security
Council and held the presidency of the General
Assembly for one year, has submitted its candidacy to
the Economic and Social Council for the period 2007-
2009. I am convinced that our country’s experience and
expertise, as well as its commitment to contribute to
strengthening the effectiveness of the United Nations,
are important reasons to support our candidacy.
(spoke in English)
We are witnessing and also taking an active part
in the implementation of the most important reform
since the United Nations was founded. Today more
than ever before, the peoples of the world need our
Organization to help establish long-lasting peace,
prosperity and a better future for new generations. We
must succeed in reforming the United Nations so that it
can change the world for the better.