Hungary

May I, at the outset, extend the congratulations of my delegation to you, Sir, upon your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty- first session. In your endeavours, based on your rich diplomatic experience, you may count on the assistance and support of the Hungarian delegation. Let me also pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, for his extremely able leadership throughout our historic fiftieth session. The diversity of challenges facing the community of nations, the difficulties associated with finding proper responses and the importance of building up supportive national and international constituencies are hardly likely to send multilateralism into oblivion. Yet, in this time of change, and despite the forceful tendencies of globalization, interdependence and integration, no single applicable approach is at hand for political leaders. Given its unique role and capacities, the United Nations can be the principal vehicle by which the international community selects and addresses problems requiring a universal response. This Organization, however, cannot and should not micro-manage the solution to all the urgent problems of our contemporary world. Times have changed and so must the United Nations. In several instances, the international community may act much more efficiently through regional organizations or specialized agencies. What is essential, however, is that the nations forming this Organization stand up with one strong voice when the purposes and principles of the Charter are put to the test. Violations of international law, human rights and fundamental freedoms should be matched with legitimate and adequate responses by the international community, acting through the United Nations. The issue of multilateral disarmament and non- proliferation remains a legitimate concern for the United Nations. Last year, we were pleased by the indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This important step not only constituted a major building block in the complex web of our non-proliferation and disarmament efforts, but served as a catalyst to forge consensus around the future direction and dynamics of this process. As a result of sustained and responsible work in the Conference on Disarmament, it became possible to finalize the text of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Hungary stood fully behind this compromise text, which captures the diversity of views and approaches while still constituting a coherent and forward-looking document. Opening the Treaty for signature was, indeed, a landmark. Hungary was among the first countries to sponsor resolution 50/245. I signed the Treaty on the day after it was opened for signature. This Treaty is not the end of the process. There is a need for further systematic and progressive efforts towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and the CTBT must be given its due place in that process. In this context, we join those who call for its smooth entry into force, thereby allowing the disarmament process to proceed. Hungary also consistently seeks to contribute to the strengthening of stability and security through cooperative efforts at both regional and bilateral levels. Building upon our intensified relations with the European Union, we look forward to the early beginning of negotiations on our 7 accession to the European Union. We hold the firm view that the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will expand stability and security in Europe and will strengthen trans-Atlantic partnership and solidarity. Hungary, in its bilateral relations with neighbouring countries, is striving to contribute to the establishment of conditions enabling them all to be full partners in the institutions of Euro-Atlantic integration. We remain convinced that, with an enlarged NATO and an expanded European Union, the United Nations will have even more efficient and helpful regional partners. The crisis in the Balkans has proved to be a painful and dramatic litmus test of the resolve of the international community. The United Nations has also had to draw its own conclusions from the tragedy. The mission of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium is currently making progress on the road to the peaceful reintegration of the region into Croatia, while securing respect for the human rights of all its inhabitants and the rights of national minorities in the region. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the role and determination of the Implementation Force (IFOR) is indispensable for guaranteeing the implementation of the Dayton Agreement. The cooperation, through IFOR, between NATO, the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe in responding to the different facets of this major challenge is an innovative paradigm for future conflict resolution and crisis-management efforts. We strongly believe that a solid international presence is required to allow democracy and stability to take firm root in the region. Hungary continues to provide the necessary logistical and transit facilities to IFOR forces and United Nations peace-keepers and is contributing to the strength of both IFOR and the United Nations International Police Task Force. The return and reintegration of refugees and displaced persons — including those who found shelter in Hungary — pose a continuing challenge to the international community. The establishment of democracy and the rule of law should be accompanied by reconstruction and rehabilitation, thereby facilitating the conditions of safe and orderly return. Citizens should be assisted by the international community in their efforts to create and activate democratic institutions in which good governance and accountability will force war criminals out of the political mainstream. We see the work of the Tribunal in The Hague as an essential component of the Dayton peace process and the cooperation extended to it as an important indicator of the willingness of the parties to follow through on both their Dayton commitments and their obligations under the Charter. Experience of the recently held elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina suggests that keeping to the schedule agreed at Dayton was a sound decision. We remain concerned, however, at the ethnically divided voting results. This only highlights the urgency of proceeding without undue delay to the building-up of a unique institutional infrastructure for the country and of facilitating the holding of municipal elections in a more stable political environment. We are now in a period of reflection with regard to United Nations conflict-prevention and crisis-management capabilities. In our view, the United Nations, as it continues to live up to its responsibilities under the Charter, ought to craft its response strategies more carefully. The preventive capacity of the United Nations should be further strengthened. A sound early warning system, combining political, military, humanitarian, human rights and economic areas, would broaden the base of options and enhance the chances for success in the early detection of conflict situations. An early international monitoring presence in itself has a major deterrent effect. In-depth information on a given situation would catalyse diplomatic efforts and help trigger a broad consensus on the course of action. Specialized agencies and regional organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, are of primary importance in defusing sources of tension through creating appropriate and efficient response mechanisms. The United Nations, while fully discharging its responsibilities under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security, can authorize and thus give legitimacy to these endeavours as well as to actions to be taken by ad hoc coalitions of the able and willing. The building-up of regional peacekeeping and peace- building capacities, as well as the increase of the operational character of some key activities of specialized agencies, are among the avenues that have to be more fully explored. The reform agenda of the United Nations has been put in motion against the background of these new challenges and opportunities. Despite considerable progress in identifying the main areas of change within the different negotiating structures, we are seriously 8 concerned that the overall reform process has lost most of its dynamics. While we should not allow that individual consensual elements of the reform process be held hostage to progress in unrelated issues, there seems to be an evident need to reach a political agreement, at least on the basic philosophy of the major premises of the reform agenda. Hungary is aware of the difficulties that make real progress so hard to achieve. It stands ready to help reinvigorate the momentum for change and to make genuine United Nations reform an early reality. Promotion of the international protection of human rights is a fundamental component of my Government’s foreign policy and one of the essential tasks conferred upon the United Nations by its founders. Despite the remarkable results achieved in the standard establishment and building- up of implementation machinery, there is still much to do in maintaining our determination to act in defence of human rights, wherever abuses may occur. Chronic underfunding, lack of efficient coordination and the sometimes evasive or uncooperative attitude of several Governments only underline this urgency, which was finally recognized when human rights were made one of the programme priorities of the United Nations. In our view, the United Nations, despite the important advances made, such as the establishment of the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights, is still not sufficiently equipped to deal with the latest and gravest of human-rights challenges: those emanating from ethnic conflict, civil strife, government breakdown and the collapse of the rule of law. The importance of safeguarding and monitoring the observance of the rights of national or ethnic minorities is still too often disregarded and put in the context of political expediency. Lack of full respect for the rights of minorities, together with the absence of necessary political, legal, institutional and administrative guarantees, are among the root causes of many of the conflicts on our agenda. Today, as we witness the growing importance of human-rights operational activities, the timeliness of the concept of preventive peace-building comes to mind. This implies not only an enhanced human-rights preventive and monitoring capacity of the United Nations, but also the right combination and use of the assets at our disposal, from early warning to preventive protection. The practice of financing some United Nations human-rights field operations from the peace-keeping budget and a greater coordinating role for the High Commissioner for Human Rights may be two of the avenues which deserve our full attention. I wish to underline the fact that the way in which the United Nations tackles the crucial global problems mankind is facing will greatly determine the quality of the imminent next century. Let me refer, in this context, to the importance of some of the problems on the agenda of this session. Sustained efforts to combat international terrorism, transnational crime or illicit drug trafficking are required from all of us in order to preserve the international legal order, the present achievements and further potential of democracy and development. The United Nations has an important role in coordinating efforts to ensure that those involved in terrorist activities find no safe haven and expect a vigorous response from the international community. Transboundary criminal activity and drug-related money-laundering require the strict application of the law by strong, independent judiciaries. Our task is to make use of the advantages of multilateral cooperation in this field. The Republic of Hungary stands ready to work in partnership with Member States to promote efficient multilateral action and to translate into deeds the noble ideals set forth in the Charter of the United Nations.