118. This Assembly’s general debate offers, as usual a special opportunity to each Member State to present its views on the essential problems facing the-world — problems more numerous than we should wish. Some of them have remained on the agenda during consecutive sessions, awaiting adequate solutions. We have also raised others from this rostrum, fully realizing that they are not subjects for detailed consideration within the framework of the United Nations organs. Both influence the climate of international relations. This is why our debates are followed with such particular attention by the people of the world, although, often enough, too much is expected from our Organization. At the same time, however, many essential and far-reaching, though less spectacular, achievements of the United Nations are not given due recognition.
119. We are convinced that a sober approach to the international problems of the world, a realistic approach, is the first prerequisite to progress in their settlement. We live in a divided world. Two systems, the socialist and the capitalist, exist side by side. This is not an artificial division on the contrary, it results from the natural development of human society in the present historic epoch. Thus, understanding the nature of the world’s division, we cannot fail to see its unity and the growing dependence of all countries and societies on one another. Enormous means, both constructive and destructive, are at our disposal. It depends solely on us whether we achieve progress and peaceful co-operation or drift towards a holocaust which would spare no people or State.
120. Regrettably, the facts of today’s reality, though they should be obvious to all, are given by some a biased interpretation fraught with dire consequences for inter. national relations. The socialist countries have demonstrated a proper attitude, undertaking consistent efforts to promote and consolidate peaceful coexistence and co-operation among States with various socio-political systems. Different, however, is the attitude of many a Government in the capitalist countries. The practical impact of their policy only too often contradicts their public declarations. This policy does not concur with the requirements of the international situation. It not only ignores the existence of undeniable realities; but vainly it attempts to change the existing balance of forces in the world, but in vain.
121. Meanwhile, it is of paramount importance to state once again what we have repeatedly stressed in the past Socialism has become a reality and is here to stay. The process of strengthening the socialist States constitutes at the same time a supporting leverage for the many countries referred to as the “third world", countries which, freed from colonialism, have chosen a non-capitalist road for their development. Indeed, indirectly it also influences the internal transformations presently taking place in many capitalist countries. It could not be otherwise, since socialism is and will remain the political and social system of the future, paving the way towards the time to come.
122. The future also belongs to those many peoples countries and States which with the ending of the colonial era and within the life span of our generation, have entered the stream of normal international relations. In those countries, too, nobody will be able to reverse the course of history. It is true that those young, often inexperienced State organisms will have to overcome hundreds of difficulties which still face them in order to achieve position and influence. However, they will accomplish it the quicker, the more they rely on their own strength and on the collective united efforts of the whole region to which they belong - not only from the geographical point of view — and the more consistently they free themselves from outside, neo-colonialist influences harmful to their independent development. The socialist countries have always declared their full solidarity with such efforts. Close co-operation with developing countries and assistance to them — within the limits of our possibilities—are inherent to our policy. Peace is equally as indispensable to them as it is necessary to us.
123. The effectiveness of our Organization depends on the recognition of all those unquestionable realities of today’s world and on projecting our thoughts and actions towards the future, not only contemplating the past which is gone for ever. Had the United Nations always been guided by such recognition, it would not have erred in many a decision. There would have been no sterile deliberations resulting in the Chinese People’s Republic’s being unjustly denied the exclusive right to represent the great Chinese people in this Organization. The United States forces occupying South Korea would not be abusing the United Nations flag and obstructing the road to the unity of that cruelly tried and indeed industrious nation. The struggle for the abolition of the inhuman apartheid system or for the future of Namibia would not have been ending solely with the adoption of resolutions — ineffective because they are always either toned down or incompletely enforced as a result of the action of the overt or covert supporters of the facist régime. The German Democratic Republic would eventually have an observer at the United Nations as does the German Federal Republic, and that in itself would pave the way to membership in the United Nations for the two existing German States, an outcome both desired and justified. We would not be discussing the question of the universality of the United Nations. Our Organization would already be universal.
124. Surely there is no need to multiply examples. They will become evident as I present more fully the views of the Polish delegation. Therefore permit me, for the present, to draw the conclusion — not the only one in my speech — that the increase of United Nations prestige depends to a great extent on whether the double standard now used in appraising international phenomena is abandoned.
125. One of the crucial problems of the present world situation is the need to fortify international security. The level of armaments, in itself an essential though fluctuating factor of national security, will obviously depend on how and on what principles we solve this problem. For any given step in the field of armaments taken by one side automatically forces the other to undertake parallel decisions even if it does not consider them desirable. The logic of the continuation and speeding up of the escalation of armaments, the logic of the spiral of death thus becomes manifest.
126. It was not in the socialist countries, it was not in Poland, that the theory of “deterrence” was born. We have never shared the view that security of the world should be based on the so-called “balance of terror”. We have always considered the question of disarmament as one of the most important tasks of the United Nations. The best evidence of this lies in the numerous proposals which the socialist countries, together with Poland, have advanced here over many years.
127. One could give way to melancholic contemplation. How much easier it was to achieve concrete steps towards disarmament shortly after the end of the last and devastating world war; for instance, when in 1946 the United Nations adopted its first resolution [41(1)] on disarmament. How many efforts and how much energy and material resources could have been saved. We are not the ones to be blamed for not having reached this goal. I venture to say this though not to apportion responsibilities. History will do it. It does seem to be of the greatest importance to draw the right conclusions from the experiences of the past.
128. The Governments and parliaments of the world have now before them a new document thoroughly discussed and agreed upon in a treaty form. I am referring to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapon [resolution 2373(XXII)]. It should be viewed as one of the crucial factors towards halting and then reversing the armaments race in the field of the most dangerous weapons, the nuclear ones. No effort should be spared to make this document a universally binding norm of international law in the shortest possible time. Poland signed the treaty without any reservations; in due course we shall proceed with its ratification.
129. Those States which shun the fulfilment of this fundamental obligation towards future generations are taking upon themselves a heavy responsibility indeed. Their reluctance cannot be justified by any argument about further “improving” the document. In this particular case the search for perfection might become a foe of that which is urgent, unquestionably good and useful. For no perfect agreement can be arrived at in a process of compromise. However, how immeasurably increased will be the responsibility for the harm caused to the process of disarmament by those States which now act in an opportunistic way from a position of narrow and egoistic political speculations! I have in mind, above all, the well-known position of the Government in Bonn.
130. The non-proliferation Treaty having opened up new and wider perspectives should speed up disarmament efforts. It is therefore noteworthy that at this moment significant new Soviet proposals have been submitted to this session recommending a number of further disarmament steps, to which the General Assembly will undoubtedly devote due attention. Among these many well-founded initiatives, the demand for the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons should be particularly stressed. Its acceptance may effectively reinforce the safeguards already ensured to non-nuclear States with the coming into force of the non-proliferation Treaty.
131. For our part we should like to approach the General Assembly with an earnest appeal not to fail to consider also the problem of production and use of bacteriological and chemical weapons in all its aspects. Many reports on the constant improvement of these new means of mass extermination are being made public and are giving rise to the greatest anxiety. While concentrating on the difficult question of the limitation and reduction of nuclear armaments, let us not permit new, perhaps even more destructive, weapons to emerge.
132. The non-proliferation Treaty. may also stimulate further initiatives on partial regional disarmament steps. Polish experts continue to study this problem carefully. The possibilities that may arise should not be wasted in the same way as opportunities were lost after the signing of the Moscow Treaty on the partial ban of nuclear tests in 1963.
133. I do not mention here and now the undoubtedly very important agreements on outer space. Their meaning does not seem to appeal to the general imagination as much as the deep concern to establish thorough order here on our globe, to eliminate the dangers of war, to use resources now wasted on armaments to quell hunger and to meet the economic necessities of those countries which need it most.
134. The Polish delegation, as in previous years, wishes to dwell on some problems of particular concern to us, on the question of Europe. It is in Europe that the armies of great Powers, equipped with the most modern weapons, confront each other directly. It is in Europe that there is a State, the German Federal Republic, which does not recognize the frontiers established in binding agreements concluded at the end of World War II. The official policy of this State provides a fertile soil for trends only too familiar to those who have ample reasons not to forget the Third Reich. The same State still aspires to crown its already huge arsenal of armaments with nuclear weapons. According to the most recent reports, the German Federal Republic is making use of military bases, training centres, practice ranges and military research centres in twelve countries on four continents.
135. It is in Europe that centres of psychological warfare are bursting with activity. I shall mention only one of them — financed by American funds — named “Radio Free Europe". All these activities are obviously of a diversionist character and are directed against the present European equilibrium and, more particularly, against the unity of the socialist countries. One can add that recently, on 25 August, it was the Chancellor of the German Federal Republic, Herr Kiesinger, who officially declared that West Germany “must try to change the existing status quo in Europe".
136. Indeed, it is only on the surface that Europe appears to be a relatively quiet corner of the world. The same imperialist forces which we know from their attempts at disrupting efforts towards African unity, attempts at undermining the internal cohesion of many an African country, attempts at hampering the progressive consolidation of Latin America and attempts at engulfing Asia in their neo-colonial designs — those very forces are close at
work in Europe.
137. Poland spared no effort to face these dangers and to search for solutions to European problems. Together with other socialist States, we consistently advanced a constructive programme for the setting-up of a system of collective security in Europe. From this very rostrum, in 1957, the Foreign Minister of Poland proposed the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in Central Europe [697th meeting, para.136]. We later presented a modified proposal for the freezing of nuclear armaments in that region, an action open for participation by other European countries ready and willing to join.
138. We have promoted, over and over again, the convening of a conference on European security and co-operation. Let me recall our intervention in the general debate on 10 October 1966 [1434th meeting], when we gave a broad outline of a possible agenda for such a conference. It included among other things, the vital question of promoting economic co-operation among socialist and capitalist countries — which requires the abolition of many artificial barriers by means of which Western European economic integration projects are dissecting the unity of Europe. Europe is one, and Europe does not begin west of the Elbe.
139. The socialist vision of Europe bases itself on recognition of the existing status quo. It is not a concept of a continent on which groupings of various nations entrench themselves behind piles of rockets and behind customs barriers. Ours is the concept of initiating and promoting the process of détente and of fostering relations among States in all possible fields. I wish, nevertheless, to make it quite clear to all those concerned that the way to détente does not lie through attempts to split Eastern Europe, united, as it is, not only by common ideals but also by common nationalist interests. The road to détente lies only through recognition of the existence of that unity.
140. It gives us satisfaction to note that many of our plans and suggestions have met with the sympathetic understanding of public opinion in the West as well as of Governments in many Western countries. The bilateral dialogue we have established with Western countries has confirmed this — a value which we would not wish to discount and which we are ready to enlarge by continuation of contacts.
141. None of the particular proposals advanced by the socialist countries was implemented, not even in a gradual way, step by step. All the diplomatic chancelleries in Europe know full well that all the good intentions got stranded on the negative attitude of the Government of the German Federal Republic. This is why our approach to the German problem differs from that presented here by some Western neighbours of the German Federal Republic. As we are fully aware, although those countries share to a considerable extent many of our apprehensions, they choose to base their relations with the German Federal Republic on an abstract feeling of faith. We, however, cannot be guided in our policy merely by declarations of goodwill. Thus, indeed, we shall continue to rely on deeds. It will remain a constant of our policy that the German problem has to be subordinated to the requirements of European security, not vice versa. Whenever in the past this basic truth was lost sight of, Europe fell prey to tragic wars which engulfed the European East as well as the West, and in the end engulfed other continents too.
142. I do sincerely trust that these remarks of the Polish delegation about Europe will be carefully considered and understood in the first instance, by all those who choose to raise here the so-called Czechoslovak question, contrary to the clearly expressed wishes and requests of the delegation of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, for us a fraternal delegation and a fraternal country. It is really regrettable that, when referring to this subject, many speakers appear to have lost their sense of proportion and their ability properly to evaluate the relative importance of some facts of international life. May I be permitted to quote a contemporary philosopher, who warned that one should not give in to “a mood of abstract contemplation in a world so perilous". I should not like to suppose that for one reason or another such speakers had to follow in Mr. Rusk’s footsteps. They can only lead one astray. It was the late President Kennedy who warned: “The United States is neither omnipotent nor omniscient. ... We cannot impose our will ...”; and he concluded that “there cannot be an American solution for every problem". These words of President Kennedy were recently recalled by Mr. Arthur Goldberg.
143. There is no doubt that the struggle of the Viet-Namese people against United States aggression is being followed all over the world with much greater attention than has been, I regret to say, reflected so far in this year’s general debate of the United Nations General Assembly. We must not and we cannot become immunized to what is taking place in Viet-Nam.
144. The tragic record of United States policy towards Viet-Nam is so long and well known that it permits of no illusions. The position, which the United States presents to world opinion, concerning the possibilities of a solution to the Viet-Namese conflict through political means has undergone various changes. All those changes have had one common denominator: ever new demands by the United States over and above what it has previously stated as being acceptable to it. Only one factor has remained unchanged: the continuation of military actions in Viet-Nam.
145. We of Poland have a certain knowledge of this problem. In our diplomatic activities we have spared no efforts to assist in achieving a political, peaceful settlement of the Viet-Namese conflict. We are motivated by our deep dedication to the cause of peace — and we have reacted to the requests of the parties concerned. The facts are known to representatives of the United States here. The time has not yet come to discuss them fully and disclose them in public.
146. Nothing can be further from reality than to represent the escalation of military activities against Viet-Nam as efforts for the cause of peace and the struggle of the Viet-Namese people for independence — a struggle imposed upon them by aggression — as an indication of alleged, unyielding bellicosity. We have said more than once, from this rostrum and elsewhere, that such an approach cannot be conducive to peace. The Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam has repeatedly and emphatically voiced its readiness for a peaceful solution of the conflict and has proved it by agreeing, without prior conditions, to the opening of the Paris talks. One should not, however, confuse peaceful settlement with capitulation, just as one should not confuse the victim of aggression with the perpetrators of aggression.
147. It is not the bombing of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam which opened the way to the Paris talks. The bombing in fact hinders the undertaking of concrete and, ultimately, effective negotiations in spite of the fact that the parties, as a result of goodwill shown by the Viet-Namese, have already taken seats at the negotiating table. The immediate and unconditional cessation of military acts against the North therefore remains a matter of the utmost urgency. A concrete political solution must be searched for on the basis of the proposition of those forces which have proved to the whole world, and in particular to the United States, that they are the true representatives of the Viet-Namese people. In this respect, the South Viet-Nam National Liberation Front has advanced realistic and basic principles for the settlement of the situation in the southern part of Viet-Nam.
148. For the present then, one can justly assume that the cruel war which decimates the heroic, creative and talented Viet-Namese nation has been subordinated to the contradictions which in 1968 are disturbing the internal life of a great Power, the United States. We say this with the full seriousness which this grave problem deserves and without meaning any offence: if someone wants to put his own house in order, let him start to do that at home, not at the expense of the lives of Viet-Namese patriots, who in no way endanger the vital interests of the American people and will not do so in the future. Those patriots must be left in peace. As for the American people, we only wish them well. After all, our two nations have been linked by too many bonds since the American struggle for national independence, though of course there is a substantial difference between the United States of George Washington and that of President Johnson.
149. We shall not join in the lobby discussions, so familiar to us, as to the degree to which the settlement, also, of the Middle East conflict hinges on the results of the American elections. However, we know, and we have repeatedly expressed our conviction here, that Israel would not have dared to start aggression nor would it display such an unyielding attitude in its drive for conquest had it not been for the support and encouragement of Western imperialist circles.
150. As a consequence we have a large number of United Nations resolutions, of the Security Council and the General Assembly — adopted from 15 June 1967 to 27 September of this year — which Israel consistently disregards or bluntly and simply rejects. We should not like to mention the many indications of the violations of the cease-fire resolution by Israel; proof of that has recently been given by the delegation of Jordan, indeed in a
document distributed yesterday. In doing so Israel is challenging the record set by the Republic of South Africa. On the other hand, there is an explicit declaration of the Government of the United Arab Republic stating its readiness fully to implement — even if it had to be done in stages — the unanimous resolution of the Security Council of 22 November 1967 [242(1967)].
151. It should be added that the Arab countries concerned have lately been showing great flexibility in the search for a political solution. We cannot say this about the demands put forward a few days ago from this very rostrum [1686th meeting] in the form of an ultimatum by Mr. Eban. This does not facilitate the mission carried out tirelessly and with praiseworthy restraint and devotion by Ambassador Jarring. We can only wish him greater success than he has achieved up to now.
152. The Government of Israel would do well to realize that to continue gambling with the danger of a renewal of hostilities by overstraining the political game must ultimately lead to a fiasco and indeed endanger that country’s very own interests. To advance territorial claims stubbornly under the pretext of wishing to establish so-called secure borders, and to advance claims aimed at consolidating the results of aggression, constitutes an open challenge to the United Nations, to which, after all, Israel owes its existence. It is a challenge which our Organization must take up in the name of elementary justice. Neither should our Organization tolerate the persistent and cruel persecution of Palestinian underground freedom-fighters, who are legally entitled to continue the struggle for the cause of their motherland as long as the state of war exists.
153. Speaking for the Polish delegation, I stated at the beginning that public opinion often expects too much from the United Nations. These expectations overlook the fact that in many fields the possibilities of the United Nations are limited, either by specific provisions of the Charter, by the unwillingness of Member States to abide by the decisions of international organs, or by the as yet insufficient use of the wide range of actions envisaged in the Charter, such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation, etc. Listening carefully to the present debate, noting the frequent outbursts of rhetoric and the passionate exercise of the right of reply, we could not help feeling that, given the goodwill of those concerned, the United Nations could achieve more. Ail the same the United Nations will, in fact, remain only what its Member States make out of it - Members big and small. Each of us bears equal responsibility.
154. Nevertheless, there are fields of activity where the United Nations has indeed made historic achievements, to mention only the elaboration of the essential norms in economic relations, the assistance to developing countries, the creation of the framework and the means of pressure in favour of the process of decolonization, decisions on social matters, protection of human rights, and, last but not least, the codification of international law. These achievements are not always reflected in the mass media of information which, particularly here on the American scene, are hunting only for the sensation of controversies and above all for cases of eruption of disagreements or of splits between East and West. Perhaps this is because of a lack of a sense of responsibility, a lack which derives from the fact that the great problems of peace, of international co-operation, of the aspirations of humanity, and of the need to bring out that which unites and not that which divides are subordinated to sectional interests. Let no one try to win us over to that kind of arbitrary information, for it distorts the truth about the great international undertaking embodied in the United Nations, just as, too often, on purpose and, I may say, with ill will, it deforms the truth about the socialist countries.
155. The Polish delegation, apart from its preoccupation with the purely political problems I have already touched upon, is concentrating its efforts, inter alia, on the importance of elaborating the convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The problem has already been discussed in the Third Committee, where we have presented our detailed observations. As regards this problem I say here only that we are motivated by the historical experiences of our nation. We shall not forget the sacrifice of the six million Polish citizens killed, tortured and murdered during the war and the hostile Hitlerite occupation.
156. I wish also to say that the Council of State of the Polish People’s Republic has just ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. This may emphasize our belief in the purposeful values of the United Nations activities in gradually developing the system of adequate protection of human rights; of its efforts to shield humanity against crimes about which no legal system can ever and anywhere remain inactive.
157. We have now to evaluate the results of the first United Nations Development Decade and to elaborate directives for the coming one. It offers us an opportunity to analyse the methods of work used so far, to make a clear-cut distinction between the spheres where we have been indulging in illusions and where we have faced serious obstacles which will have to be removed. It is imperative to search for more effective forms of action not yet applied.
158. Take, for instance, the question of external assistance. It is, of course, essential. We of Poland favour its expansion and we do participate in it. In certain cases, however, this assistance can play a retrogressive role, becoming more and more distinct in the field of the inflow and outflow of capital between the developing countries and the highly developed ones of the West. The ratio between this inflow and outflow is steadily deteriorating to the detriment of the developing countries. It is approaching the point where the amount of capital transferred to the rich Western countries in the form of profits and dividends will exceed the amount of capital exported by them to the developing countries. Such capital then, instead of being an element of “assistance", gradually turns itself into an element of “exploitation”. Does this not remind us of the usury rampant in the Middle Ages and now transplanted into the twentieth century on an international scale? Should we not carefully examine this problem and consider appropriate means for counter-action, just as in the past an end was put to usury?
159. We have always held that the optimal use of the national resources and internal potential of each of the developing countries constitutes the most essential driving force for their economic growth. Hence the importance we attach to the resolution [2158(XXI)] of the General Assembly of 1966, initiated by the Polish delegation, on the “permanent sovereignty over natural resources". The General Assembly, we submit, should at this current session undertake further steps to ensure that all developing countries may fully exercise this legitimate right.
160. With regard to the mobilization of internal capabilities we feel that the application of co-operative forms can play an important role in the economic and social progress of developing countries. We therefore plan to submit an appropriate resolution to this effect. Naturally, the problem will have to be studied further.
161. The twenty-fifth anniversary of our Organization is near. Every Member State should of course reflect upon methods of enlarging the achievements of the United Nations — achievements which, despite all pessimists, are not at all insignificant although, allow me to repeat once again, they do not always concern problems upon which the peace and security of nations so vitally and primarily depend.
162. We wonder whether in the light of present conditions, the anniversary celebrations could not be devoted to a wide popularization of disarmament problems and to the channelling of the resources of science and technology into the service of humanity instead of into multiplying the means of destruction. Recently, through the well-known report of the Secretary-General, we have uncovered and propagated the dangers of the use of nuclear weapons. Let us now attempt to stimulate the imagination of world opinion towards what can be achieved once disarmament — through the efforts of all and, if there is no possibility of achieving it immediately, by stages — becomes a reality.
163. Our Secretary-General, U Thant, has also touched upon the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Charter and the Organization it established. May I be permitted to state here forcefully that he may count upon Polish co-operation. It is true that we of Poland find it difficult to agree with the emphasis he placed on some of the problems in the introduction to his annual report [A/7201/Add.1]. However, this does not in the least diminish our deep esteem for his full devotion, his inventiveness and great efforts aimed at the fulfilment of the tasks assigned to him in international conditions so complex that one would be expecting too much to assume that everything can be directed at will by remote control from the thirty-eighth floor.
164. The Polish delegation is ready to co-operate sincerely and honestly will all those who have, as deeply at heart as we have, the cause of the United Nations and the peaceful future of the world.
165. It is in this spirit that the Polish delegation offers its full assistance to the President of our session, the Foreign Minister of Guatemala, Mr. Emilio Arenales. We are glad that the Presidency has fallen into the hands of a man so well acquainted not only with the course of general debates, but also with the valuable and arduous efforts of each Committee and the Secretariat. While congratulating him and all the Vice-Presidents on their election, we wish them success in the conduct of our deliberations, always bearing in mind that the results depend not only on those presiding over the debates, but, above all, on the representatives sitting in the Assembly.