Luxembourg

First of all, I should like to extend to the President of the General Assembly at this forty-eighth session my sincere congratulations on his election. He was unanimously supported for this position because of his excellent qualities; and his election is also a tribute to his country, Guyana. Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, our Secretary-General, also deserves our wholehearted thanks and appreciation for his constant and resolute efforts in implementing the decisions of our Organization and applying the principles of our Charter. The already very broad universality of the United Nations has been further strengthened - and I welcome this - with the admission of six new countries: the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Eritrea, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Monaco and Andorra. Mr. Willy Claes, the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, yesterday expressed the views of the European Community and its member States. I shall therefore be able in this statement to focus on a few matters of particular concern to my Government. Three years ago, from this very rostrum, we welcomed the end of the East-West confrontation and its corollary, the end of the threat of nuclear annihilation. Throughout the world, democracy and respect for the state of law were progressing in a most encouraging way. But given developments in the last few years, it would seem that we should somehow dampen our enthusiasm. Changes in the balance of forces between the Powers that dominated the old order have allowed nationalism and regionalism to develop. In some cases, this has led to the destabilization of entire regions following upon rivalries between neighbors, ethnic tension and religious fanaticism. Nationalism is of course not in and of itself evil. It is in some sense a logical manifestation of feelings of pride and self-confidence which can finally express themselves after long years of oppression during which free speech was forcibly repressed. But once the legitimate expression of this regained pride of a people is transformed into open hostility towards everything that is different, then nationalism carries within itself the seeds of grave danger. Extreme nationalism can be seen in many places, whether it be in the territory of the former Soviet Union or the former Yugoslavia, where it has found its most intolerable expression. It leads to explosions of violence, armed aggression, acts of terrorism and unspeakable suffering for the civilian populations. Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 31 Ethnic conflicts are proliferating in all regions of the world. In Western Europe itself, it can be seen in the resurgence of racist and xenophobic incidents. As a challenge to the primacy of law and to respect for human rights, extreme nationalism constitutes a threat to the international order. A clear and coherent strategy is necessary to respond to this challenge. First of all, education with regard to tolerance should be renewed; and, secondly, legal protection for minorities must be ensured. The principles and rules drawn up in this area by the Council of Europe and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe might suggest some solutions. New instruments are to be defined next week at the summit of the Council of Europe. The plan for stability in Europe is part of this same approach. Thirdly - and this is the most important action to be taken - we must do everything possible at the national, regional and international levels to strengthen democratization and to promote protection for human rights. It is on the basis of these principles, focused on the free expression of peoples and the development of democratic structures, that the United Nations has proposed solutions and agreements to resolve the conflicts which are being submitted to it in ever-increasing numbers. The Government of Luxembourg expresses its deep satisfaction over the agreement on mutual recognition and the agreement on the autonomy of occupied territories concluded between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. We should like to pay tribute to those who forged the agreements, in particular Prime Minister Rabin, his Foreign Minister Peres and President Arafat. They have given the world a lesson in courage and clarity of vision and in political realism as well. The developments we have witnessed are of a historic significance comparable to that of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. They fundamentally change the facts of the Middle East; they have launched a process of reconciliation in order to put an end to an explosive, untenable and unjust situation. In a region devastated by more than 40 years of war, violence and hatred, a window is now opening on a more peaceful and democratic future. The still fragile dynamic that has been created must be strengthened without delay. This can first be achieved by the conclusion of peace agreements between Israel and its neighbours: Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The Government of Luxembourg encourages the leaders concerned to overcome the last obstacles and to open the way to normalization of their relations with Israel. The Israelis and the Palestinians must then act together and in good faith, with the solidarity of the regional and international community to implement successfully the agreement on autonomy in the occupied territories, the first step towards a comprehensive settlement. The first contributor of funds, the European Community and its member States, is prepared to increase cooperation on behalf of a population that must be helped to emerge from poverty and build a more dignified and prosperous future. Our Government will participate fully in that effort. Thanks to the United Nations, peace was restored in Namibia and Nicaragua three years ago. Today in Cambodia the effort led by the United Nations has enabled the people of an ancient culture, humiliated by decades of bloody oppression and foreign occupation, to participate on a mass scale in free and open elections. By consolidating a State of law and national reconciliation, the country will be able to rebuild itself. In Haiti a firm policy of close cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) has led to an agreement which provides for the restoration of democracy. In El Salvador the assistance of the United Nations was decisive in putting an end to the civil war and recommencing the construction of a civilian society and the process of national reconciliation. Free elections in which all Salvadorians will be able to participate are to be held next year. In Somalia, however, intervention by the United Nations has demonstrated the limits of armed intervention in a tribal civil war in the absence of a political agreement and a cease-fire. Nevertheless, the difficulties encountered in Mogadishu should not make us forget that the United Nations made an essential contribution to combating the famine. 32 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session In South Africa further decisive progress is being made towards the definitive abolition of apartheid. I welcome the agreement on setting up a transitional body to draw up a provisional Constitution and prepare for free elections in April 1994. Only a shared determination and close cooperation between all the parties will make it possible to stop the deadly violence which continues to kill and which jeopardizes the process of reconciliation. Significant progress towards restoring democracy and towards national reconciliation has also been made in other countries in Central America and in Africa. Those achievements, however imperfect, are encouraging, and demonstrate the role that our Organization can play in preserving peace and consolidating democratic regimes. The situation in the former Yugoslavia is still extremely disturbing. Every day we see on television the barbarism that accompanies "ethnic cleansing" and the bloodstained dismemberment of Bosnia and Herzegovina -a country which was once an example of ethnic and religious coexistence. The agreement between the three Bosnian parties, which has yet to be finalized, is admittedly complex and far from perfect. Yet it has the merit of opening up the prospect of putting an end to terror and violence. It offers a comprehensive arrangement for emerging from the crisis. Its success, which is far from being assured, presupposes a real desire on the part of the three parties to reach agreement and to carry out and abide by what is signed. The European Community and its member States, where necessary assisted by the Western European Union (WEU), are ready to contribute to implementation of the agreement, in cooperation with the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Sanctions could be lifted when the various Security Council resolutions on the former Yugoslavia have been implemented and when a satisfactory solution to the problem of minorities has been found. Overall, our Organization’s peace-keeping activities have reached an unprecedented level. Almost 80,000 Blue Helmets, military and civilian, are in the field in an unparalleled number of humanitarian missions and peace- keeping operations. I pay tribute to all those who serve the cause of peace and in particular to those who have lost their lives during these actions. We have a duty to ensure better security for personnel. Luxembourg, itself born as a modern State of an international treaty guaranteed by the Powers of the time, is particularly sensitive to the need for security and the need to preserve the peace. It has therefore contributed actively to United Nations peace-keeping operations, sending military personnel and making suitable financial contributions. My Government intends to continue this cooperation in the future. Luxembourg also firmly supports the efforts to step up United Nations activities in the area of preventive diplomacy. These efforts must be increased. Measures such as fact-finding missions, the use of rapid alert systems, the establishment of a rapid deployment group, and a reinforcement of the roles of regional organizations could all be very useful in preventing conflict. Once a conflict has been unleashed it requires a much more costly intervention to ensure the restoration of peace. New cooperation is developing between the United Nations and regional organizations, which will increasingly be called upon to carry out peace-keeping functions at their level or to support and supplement United Nations activities in the area of collective security. The WEU, of which my country currently holds the presidency, is in the course of defining its role in peace-keeping operations. NATO and the CSCE are doing likewise. The preservation of peace and the promotion of democracy and the rule of law go hand in hand with the protection of human rights. Over the years, our Organization has succeeded in developing and progressively codifying human rights. But that is not enough; we must also see to it that these rights are better respected. The annual reports of organizations involved in the defence of human rights show that we are still far from attaining that objective. We are pleased that the Vienna Conference on Human Rights allowed encouraging progress to be made. The universality of human rights was clearly affirmed. Specific proposals were made for ensuring broader knowledge of human rights, promoting them and respecting them. It is now for this Assembly to approve those proposals, including the establishment of a High Commissioner for Human Rights. There is an indissoluble link between respect for human rights and the promotion of democracy. Within the United Nations system this link takes concrete form in the Organization’s growing activities in the area of technical Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 33 assistance and international supervision of electoral processes. I support the proposals by our Secretary-General to broaden these support activities to include the establishment of a free press, political parties and an independent judiciary. In this context, I welcome the decision taken by President Yeltsin to organize free elections in order to ensure democratic legitimacy for all State bodies in Russia. The United Nations must also increase its activities in the economic, social and environmental areas. This will also require the continued courageous reform of its structures and working methods. We can have no lasting peace while peoples are subjected to abject poverty and famine and while they have no hope for progress towards greater justice and equality. Cooperation and trade: these are the two foci of a single policy, which must be followed. In the past few years my Government has doubled the aid it designates for development and cooperation. We are in favour of the swift conclusion of a balanced agreement in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Such an agreement can provide at the world level a new impetus to trade and economic relations. Following the Rio Conference on Environment and Development, the new Commission on Sustainable Development must be determined to ensure that the commitments entered into at that Conference are followed up. The world’s population has more than doubled over the past 40 years and according to estimates will double again in the next 30 years. The international community must engage in a thorough analysis of the consequences of that level of growth - for example, the problems of refugees, urban concentration, and the enormous constraints in the areas of food, housing, health and education. That is why the Conference on Population and Development to be held in Cairo in 1994 has such importance. It is not surprising that social problems are becoming increasingly important at a time when many economies are facing difficult adjustment processes and others are carrying out a delicate transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Moreover, all recently published reports confirm that there is a disturbing increase in the gap between the richest sectors and the poorest sectors of populations, both within countries and between countries. The World Summit for Social Development which will take place in 1995 will, if it is adequately prepared, offer the international community an opportunity to develop a strategy to combat poverty and to ensure the better distribution of wealth. More than a year ago the Secretary-General issued his report "An Agenda for Peace", which was designed to strengthen the Organization’s capacities in the area of preventive diplomacy and the maintenance and restoration of peace. Some of the proposals it contains are already being applied in practice, but others are still pending. We hope that the current review of the Agenda will lead to specific results that can meet the Organization’s needs. Reform of the Security Council is a delicate issue which touches on the very heart of international post-war cooperation. The Council has now been in operation for 50 years, and the time has come to have a candid and in- depth discussion of the question. The fiftieth anniversary of the Organization in 1995 could offer us a good opportunity to do this. The second crisis facing the United Nations - and this point has been emphasized in all the statements made here so far - is the chronic budget deficit. To put it bluntly, the United Nations is bordering on insolvency. This is all the more astonishing in that the annual budget of the Organization is about the same as that of a medium-sized city. The legal obligation that binds all Member States makes it incumbent on them to pay their financial contributions in full and at the proper time. The credibility and the operational capacity of the United Nations depend on this. In conclusion, let me turn to an old Europe. In building European union the members of the European Community have tried to seize an unprecedented opportunity for the entire continent to achieve a truly unified Europe, a Europe of countries that have often made war against each other in the past. Without denying the current difficulties, I believe that the process of integration being carried out by the European Community can serve as the inspiration for initiatives for regional integration in Asia, Africa and Latin America. European unification was thought up and implemented on the basis of principles that are still fully valid: reconciliation between peoples that only yesterday were 34 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session enemies; broad-ranging political, economic, commercial and cultural cooperation; and the development of a social model based on pluralistic democracy, the market economy and solidarity. Such a model guarantees justice and social cohesion even if we are never able to make it perfect and it must be constantly adjusted. It is on the basis of these common values that all the peoples of Europe can, for the first time in their history, build their future together. I believe that at the world level also, thanks to concerted international action, we will be in a better position to overcome the obstacles to peace and to create a world order that is more democratic, more tolerant, more just and more social - in a word, more in keeping with the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations.