Today, numerous
outbreaks of armed conflict and instability in the world
make us look back at the main cause and purpose of the
United Nations — to keep peace throughout the world.
As States Members of the United Nations, we are all
committed to that core principle. With the danger of
terrorism and war spreading throughout the world, now
is the right time to stop to reconsider our actions and to
do everything possible to bring an end to fighting, be
it in our own homelands, neighbouring countries or in
our regions.
The nature of global security has changed
dramatically. We are seeing non-State actors, religious
fundamentalists and rebellious criminal gangs
terrorizing the globe and threatening the safety of
peaceful people. Sadly, some States are standing behind
the terrorists and have become hubs and shelters for
growing violence. But nowadays, the means of terror
and war go far beyond the traditional concept of a lethal
fight. Whatever the means of terror used, its goal is
the same — to frighten people, countries and, in some
cases, the entire world.
Peaceful and sustainable coexistence among
countries and within societies is not a self-evident
fact. It requires collective efforts and determination
and national commitment to a sustainable future that
belongs to all of us. Our common task as a group of
nations is to maintain undivided security — we must
use all our efforts to stop the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant and Al-Qaida in order to maintain peace and
security in Middle East, but the same efforts need also
to be deployed to manage the geopolitical challenges in
Eastern Europe.
It is our duty to support the peace, sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Ukraine. The threat arising in
Ukraine must be urgently tackled. The United Nations,
together with NATO, the European Union and other
regional organizations and their member States, should
fulfil their duty and do everything possible to stop
armed conflicts, prevent the redrawing of the borders
of sovereign States and stop the creation of one frozen
conflict after another.
We have to act together as a group of neighbours,
a group of States concerned about the future of the
international community, the future of the world in
which we live. It is very important to stop a conflict
at its inception and to suppress the breeding grounds
of terrorism, wherever they may be found. But most
important, we should never abandon the values that
hold us together, namely, respect for human rights and
the fundamental principles of State sovereignty and,
naturally, territorial unity.
When it comes to the protection of those
fundamental common principles, the international
community should be united and react responsively to
any breach thereof. The fact that we continue to protect
core values was well illustrated by the voting results
on resolution 68/262, on the armed conflict in Ukraine.
One hundred States supported Ukraine and condemned
the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.
An overwhelming majority of the Assembly will never
recognize such illegal acts of aggression.
If we fail and if violence, aggression and terror win,
we are at risk of waking up on the threshold of a situation
where everyone fights everyone else and chaos prevails.
Everything we have worked for, everything we have
created — the world we live in — will be destroyed.
Silent consent to such brutal forms of aggression should
not be the international community’s answer.
To avoid an even grimmer future, I invite the
Assembly to keep deception, lies, manipulation and
ignorance from entering our territories and violating
our values. We have to go back to the core principle of
the United Nations, that is, to keep peace throughout the
world. Our undivided attention to maintain undivided
security should be our main focus.