Luxembourg

On behalf of the Luxembourg delegation I should like first of all to associate myself with the warm congratulations which have been addressed to our President upon his election to the highest office in the United Nations General Assembly at its fifteenth session. The experience of the last few days has already shown that his election augurs well for the current session’s work. The conduct of our proceedings could not have been put into the hands of a person of greater integrity, intelligence and courtesy than our President. 267. As I take the floor today before this august Assembly, it is not my intention to go into a detailed analysis of the grave problems now besetting humanity or even to express my Government’s views on all these problems or on all the items on the agenda but rather to reaffirm above all, in a few brief words, the active and unshakable faith of a very small nation in the principles and goals of the United Nations and in the institution itself, whose ranks have happily been swelled by the recent admission of sixteen new Members. 268. We rejoice that the admission of these new nations, inspired as they all are by a great yearning for international peace and understanding, has made our Organization more nearly universal in character. My country, which in the thousand years of its existence has been the object of so much greed and the scene of so much deadly strife, and which was long a passive rather than an active political entity, understands and shares the joy of the countries which have just attained independence. Thus I am happy to convey to the fifteen new African Member States and to the Republic of Cyprus sincere congratulations, fraternal greetings and best wishes of the people and Government of Luxembourg. 269. It is our fervent wish that our friends the nations which have just joined our ranks may be able to enjoy their independence and freedom to the full in peace and to maintain Governments based on the principles of democracy, justice, social progress and human dignity. These are among the purposes which the authors of the United Nations Charter made the cornerstone of their service to the cause of peace and to humanity, those which take precedence over all others. To put it another way, the peace of the world which all men of good will desire and towards which our highest aspirations are directed will be only an illusion unless it is accompanied by the emancipation of individuals from all restrictions on their personal freedom and by the disappearance of all regimes of oppression which subject their peoples to moral and social restraint. 270. My country turns with confidence to the United Nations, whose institutions, as provided for in the Charter, have given proof of their usefulness and efficacy, thanks in particular to the principle of impartiality which guides the Secretariat in its activities. Thus the interests of the Organization and of our peoples counsel that we should not tamper with those institutions, at least not in the radical fashion which some speakers have seen fit to propose during the current debate. As the President of the United States so aptly stated a few days ago, it is primarily the smaller nations, exposed as they are to the danger of subversion and domination, which find a guarantee of their existence and their national independence in the realization of the ideal of the Charter and the effective functioning of the institutions of the United Nations. 271. I should like now to make some observations about the problem of the Congo. Although Belgium, which is a great friend of my own country, has of its own free will granted independence to the Congolese people, without reservations and without political conditions of any kind, and although it has complied with the Security Council's resolutions in so far as it was physically possible to do so, it has, in my Government's view, been unjustly accused of imperialism, particularly by the Soviet Union. I believe that, once the present passions have abated, history, that impartial arbiter of the actions of men and nations will do justice to the work accomplished by Belgium in the Congo. 272. My Government wishes to take this opportunity of paying a tribute, of gratitude and admiration, to the Secretary-General, Mr. Hammarskjold, and his staff, who have displayed the requisite qualities of foresight, energy, initiative and objectivity in carrying out the resolutions of the United Nations. Because they have been faithful both to the letter and to the spirit of the principles and decisions of our Organization they are today being criticized by those who, unilaterally and outside the framework of the United Nations, wish to impose their own rule on the Congo and, through it, on the world. 273. For my small country, which can itself survive only in a world where right prevails over might, the sole hope of surmounting the present crisis in the Congo lies in the United Nations Charter and the good work which it has inspired oar Organization to carry out. 274. I should like to conclude these brief reflections on the question of the Congo by expressing the fervent hope that under the influence of our Organization and with its aid the situation will rapidly return to normal so that we may soon welcome into our midst the qualified representatives of a young State capable of forging its destiny in sound and tranquil political, economic and social conditions which will enable its citizens to prosper and to enjoy the benefits of their democratic freedoms in an atmosphere of peace. 275. A few days ago the Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba [872nd meeting], delivering an indictment which was violent in the extreme, accused the Government and people of the United States of the worst imaginable misdeeds. Among other things, he charged that they had always imposed or sought to impose their law, which he called the law of the mightiest, on other States, particularly States that were small and weak, thus keeping them under their political and economic domination. Far be it from me to become involved in the current dispute between the United States and Cuba. After hearing his dithyramb, however, I thought that as a matter of elementary justice and gratitude I should in this context draw attention to certain facts which I feel the Members of this Assembly should be reminded of. 276. I have already spoken of the great value which the people of Luxembourg attach to their independence and to their national and personal freedom. Let me only point out in this connexion that twice within the past thirty-three years the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, its international and national rights attacked and violated while it was naturally powerless to defend itself, has recovered its freedom and independence largely through the disinterested intervention of the United States, thanks to the supreme sacrifice made by thousands of the young men of that country who fought alongside the Allies and who rest, together with one of their most illustrious leaders, in the soil of Luxembourg, soaked as it is with the blood of its American liberators. 277. The Government and people of Luxembourg have accordingly contracted a debt of profound and unalterable gratitude to this powerful ally. Our debt is the greater because we realize that ever since the end of the Second World War the Government and people of the United States, by the granting of unconditional material and moral aid and particularly by their military presence in Europe, have been, and still are, preserving us from the dangers of imperialist domination to which are exposed by the military and subversive forces of international Communism. If the people of Luxembourg have remained politically and economically independent, if they can think, write and speak freely, if they enjoy democratic rule, they owe it above all to the United States, that great nation whose friend and ally they have the privilege to be and the desire forever to remain, and which, far from imposing its rule on small countries, has consistently defended their sovereignty and guaranteed their independence. 278. With regard to the problem of disarmament I should like to make the following statement. No country is more attached than my own to the ideal of a world disarmed. Like all other States, it recoils in horror at the prospect of an atomic war in which it would be but an innocent victim of forces over which it had no control. Even if its capabilities in this matter are limited, my country will do everything in its power to contribute to the solution of this crucial problem. 279. Disarmament would be likely to prove a snare and a delusion unless it was carried out in an atmosphere of good faith on both sides. That is why the Western Powers regard as meaningless any disarmament proposal, however comprehensive it may be, that is not accompanied by an adequate and effective system of control and by the parallel establishment of a system of collective security. 280. Conceptions differ profoundly between those of the Western world, which, imbued as it is with the spirit of world solidarity, has traditionally kept its doors open, and those of the hermetically sealed camp of Communism. I shall go even further and say that the problem of disarmament is not primarily a military problem. At bottom it is actually apolitical problem. It is illusory to speak sincerely of disarmament as long as we are confronted with an imperialism which aspires to world domination and must rely on a vast array of force to attain its ends. 281. My Government keenly regrets that at the moment when the West was about to submit new proposals which would have opened up encouraging prospects of an agreement between East and West, the Soviet Union and the other four Communist Powers should have brought the negotiations to an abrupt end. 282. The approaches to disarmament suggested last week by President Eisenhower [868th meeting] and yesterday by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom [877th meeting] in his speech are, in my delegation's opinion, of such a nature as to offer a sound and realistic basis for a durable solution of this major problem which is of equal interest to all the peoples of the world. 283. We hope that the Geneva negotiations which were interrupted and boycotted by the Communist countries may shortly be resumed. 284. As far as the present international situation is concerned, I should like to discuss briefly that aspect of it which I consider to be the most important, namely, relations between the West and the Communist world. 285. This is the problem which is our prime concern, this is the problem that casts its shadow over all other fields of international co-operation. The solution of this problem was to have been the main topic of discussion at the Summit Conference, on the success of which the millions of people who long for peace, justice and social progress had pinned their hopes. 286. The mere fact that the Soviet leaders had emerged from their isolation and expressed the desire to enter into conversations with the political leaders of the Western world had been greeted with immense relief. It seemed to be indicative of a relaxation of the policy of tension and constant threatening which until then had characterized relations between East and West. The disappointment occasioned by the failure to hold that Summit Conference was therefore all the greater. People began to wonder if there had in fact been a fundamental change in the foreign policy of the Soviet Union and if the era of the supposed relaxation of tension, the era of peaceful coexistence, was to be succeeded by another period of cold war, to be followed later on by a real, hot war. Personally, I am trying to convince myself that there has been no such radical change in the Communist position. But let us beware. While the current session may provide the occasion for the opening of the door to conversations between the two opposing worlds which might lead to the desired resumption of the East-West discussions, the behaviour of the Communist leaders over the past few months and the speeches which they have just made from this rostrum prove that we are still far from a real understanding and that peace as we conceive it is a long way off. The fact is that their behaviour, their statements, their proposals and suggestions all show that for the Soviet Union and the countries of the Communist world the idea of peaceful coexistence and relaxation of tension is closely linked to that of domination of the non-Communist world. Even granting that they will not seek to impose such domination by means of a war which might rebound upon the aggressors themselves, it is at all events to be feared that the Communist world will try to destroy our political, economic and social system by seemingly peaceful means. Thus it will be a struggle waged by other methods. 287. Furthermore, let there be no mistake about the nature of those methods, for politics and economics do not have the same meaning for Communism as they do for us. For us, politics means the free play of democratic concepts, while for Communism politics means controlled opinion, subversion and police control. 288. The same holds true of economics. For us, the essential meaning of economics is free enterprise and satisfaction of the manifold needs of human beings, while for Communism economics is a strategy serving the aims of an ideology and a policy. Intervention in world markets, trade relations, credit policy, aid to under-developed countries, all these are forged into a weapon used to undermine the economy of the West in preparation for a Communist take-over of the various parts of the globe. Thus the struggle between the Communist camp and the free world, without losing any of its ruthlessness and without either side in any way abandoning its ultimate, objective, will henceforth take other forms. It has become more mobile and is adopting subtler methods. Its centre of gravity has also shifted. While the direct threat to us in Europe has not become any less acute, a vast penetrating movement is developing in Asia and Africa. 289. That is my view of the current situation. The political atmosphere of today is very threatening yet, for all that, I do not despair for the future of humanity. On the contrary, if we remain calm in face of the dangers which continue to hang over us and if we adopt a realistic attitude, we can be confident of preserving peace and saving Western civilization. 290. Before concluding I should like to state that my Government earnestly desires to co-operate with all the other Members of the United Nations in solving one of the most important problems now confronting the world, namely the need to expand our efforts to help the under-developed countries raise their level of living and to intensify collaboration between advanced countries and countries in process of development. Although many long-range bilateral and multilateral programmes aimed at raising the economic, cultural and social level in vast areas of the world have been put into effect, much remains to be done within the framework of the United Nations. My Government is ready, in the future as in the past, to contribute to such programmes as much as its modest resources will allow. 291. Let me say finally that the world in which we are living, although an uncertain one, is also a world which offers immense possibilities. If the choice is between destruction and peaceful construction, there is no doubt which course the peoples wish to follow. The United Nations is the repository of a great hope and it must live up to the expectations of all humanity. If the supreme goal of peace and international cooperation is to be attained, the sincere, loyal and disinterested collaboration of all countries, great and small, within the framework and under the auspices of the United Nations, is more necessary than ever and will be the only means of averting developments which might lead to disaster.