61. In this general debate we are confronted once again with the tremendous issue of war and peace. Indeed, the question of war and peace is at stake to an ever-growing degree in the crisis of today's world situation. All the topics dealt with during the long weeks of this general debate boil down to four crucial problems. These are: the war in Viet-Nam, the prospects of the "third world", the security of Europe, and the role of the United Nations. These issues are different in nature; they are not on an equal footing as to their impact on the dilemma of war and peace. Nevertheless they are interdependent, and what happens with regard to any one of them may affect the others for good or bad.
62. It is With a combination of great hope and deep despair that we confront the tragic dilemma of war or peace. Hope and despair, both of them, have been reflected in many of the statements made here in the names of the Governments of United Nations Member States. After the liquidation of the traditional colonial system, and at a time when the prevention of a thermonuclear holocaust became an officially proclaimed programme of all Powers, great and small, a bright hope was born for a peaceful settlement of all the burning issues disputed by nations in different regions of the world. But, in contrast, the escalation
of the aggression against Viet-Nam not only endangers the nations of the Par East but also overshadows and weakens the hopeful possibilities and the constructive initiatives coming from other parts of the world. The neo-colonialist infiltrations, intrigues and attacks directed against newly independent nations and the attempts to revive the bygone world of colonial rule are creating incalculable new threats and dangers not only to the "third world" but also to the world at large.
63. There is no peaceful coexistence between hope and despair. Hope must fight against despair. In order for our hopes to materialize we have to do away with the causes of despair.
64. In the present situation, it is the foremost task of all Powers of goodwill in the family of nations to co-operate in stopping the aggression against Viet- Nam and to search for a solution beneficial to the Viet-Namese people, to the nations of South-East Asia and to the whole world.
65. In full and true knowledge and understanding of the opinion of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam as well as of the National Front for the Liberation of South Viet-Nam, I can state that no real and valid peace offer has so far been made on the part of the United States. I put it this way: the so-called peace proposals, including those we heard in this general debate, miss the main point. They have such basic shortcomings as make them ineffectual.
66. With your kind permission, Mr. President, I take this opportunity to demonstrate by a short but careful analysis what the shortcomings of the so-called peace proposals are and how their essential character invalidates the basic proposals themselves.
67. Firstly, we were told in this general debate that the United States would be ready to stop bombing North Viet-Nam if this measure did not remain a unilateral concession; that is to say, if it were met by corresponding measures on the part of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam.
68. A continued aggression, unprecedented in the whole history of nations, is being committed against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. An unconditional stopping of this aggression cannot be qualified as a unilateral concession. On the contrary, any offer to abandon the bombing of North Viet-Nam, if it is subject to any conditions whatever, reveals the lack of really peaceful intentions. In the interest of negotiations and peace, the bombing of North Viet-Nam should be stopped without delay and without any threat of possible renewal.
69. Secondly, we were told in this debate that the United States would be ready to agree to withdraw its military bases and personnel — again under certain military and political conditions.
70. The very presence of United States military bases and troops in South Viet-Nam constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva Agreements. A correction of this anomalous situation cannot be considered a unilateral concession.
71. It is on the record of history that before and during the Geneva Conference of 1954 the United States Authorities used all sorts of arguments and means to persuade the French to continue their war in Indochina and not to enter into a cease-fire agreement. The realities of those days, however, proved more conclusive than warlike arguments, and the Geneva Agreements were signed. But, on the very day those agreements were signed, the so-called South Viet-Namese emissaries and the representatives of the United States already started to counteract certain provisions of those Agreements, notably those conceived to ensure the right to self-determination of the people of South Viet-Nam. The intervention of the United States in South Viet-Nam goes back to 1954. Since that time, step by step, the involvement of the United States has grown, both in quantity and in quality, from intervention to aggression. This escalation of the United States intervention is the basic factor in the origin of the present situation in South- East Asia.
72. It is in the interest not only of the Viet-Namese people but also of other nations of South-East Asia and of world peace in general that the escalation of the United States intervention be stopped and the whole tide be reversed. In the interest of negotiations and peace the withdrawal of United States military bases and personnel should be properly guaranteed. Any proposal that makes that withdrawal uncertain reveals the lack of really peaceful intentions. The people of South Viet-Nam must regain freedom to shape their own destiny in strict compliance with the Geneva Agreements.
73. Thirdly, we were told in this debate that, in case of negotiations, the problem of having the representatives of the National Liberation Front of South Viet-Nam present at the conference table might be solved. Any proposal that does not give due consideration to the programme of the National Liberation Front is directed against the true interests of the people of South Viet-Nam.
74. The Viet-Namese people have been suffering severe hardships in their struggle for independence and a peaceful life for more than two decades. There is hardly any Government and any people that should long more ardently for a peaceful life than the Government and the people of Viet-Nam. But as long as the aggression and intervention continue, it is the duty of all peace-loving nations to support the heroic struggle of the Viet-Namese people, and this assistance will certainly enable the people of Viet-Nam to endure, resist, and even overcome the attack, however much it may be escalated. It must be clearly understood that the escalation of military operations and propaganda manoeuvres will never lead to the negotiating table, but it certainly may lead to a major war and add to the harm it has already done to the general international situation. If and when the proposals of the United States approach and meet the proposals of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and those of the National Liberation Front of South Viet-Nam, peace may be restored and the nations of South-East Asia may resume implementing the provisions of the Geneva Agreements.
75. Just as the war in Viet-Nam endangers international peace in general and overshadows all aspects of international life, it also prevents us in this Organization and the specialized agencies from developing any real and effective co-operation that would be necessary for the sake of solving the urgent problems of the "third world". The great majority of the present generation of mankind is living in countries of the developing world afflicted with the tragic heritage of the colonial era, with struggles against the remnants of the colonial system, against the penetration of neocolonialism and for the safeguarding of independence. Even if the dangers of a major war emerging from the situation in South-East Asia can be overcome — and we have to hope so — the destiny of the whole world, not only that of the developing countries, hinges on whether real international co-operation will be able to solve their vital problems by doing away with the vestiges of colonialism, the dangers of neo-colonialism and racial oppression, and by securing their well- established economic and political independence. For years to come this will be a major and pressing issue in international gatherings, mainly in this Organization. If real and effective international co-operation does not come about for this end, the accumulation of the problems of the "third world" will lead to incalculable conflicts and will inflict much harm on the economic life of the whole world, or could even undermine it.
76. In and around South Africa, South West Africa and Southern Rhodesia immeasurable turmoils are likely to follow resulting from the unsolved problems of those countries, if the United Nations proves to be unable in the foreseeable future to find rightful solutions in accord with the principles of human rights and of decolonization. The resoluteness of the African States that we are witnessing at this session of the General Assembly gives us the hope that the goal they are aiming at is not out of their reach.
77. In the process of decolonization, the participation of newly independent nations in international organizations, first of all in the United Nations, has become beneficial in many ways. Awakening to the realities of the urgent needs of their new life, they have thrown out the artificial cold-war issues and are devoting all their energies and attention to the real issues of International co-operation. They have played a considerable role in rescuing the United Nations from its recent crisis that culminated at the nineteenth session. Now< taking into their hands the cause of liquidating the remains of the colonial past, they are contributing to charting a brighter future for all of us. In Latin America, the Bogota summit conference of five Latin American nations held this summer may mean a considerable step in dealing with the deep- rooted problems of this region of the world inhabited by nations having different economic and social systems.
78. The Government of the Hungarian People's Republic, according to its modest possibilities and together with the other socialist States, offers the developing countries its co-operation for brighter and for peaceful prospects in their economic, cultural and political relations.
79. In these days, we in Europe are experiencing new moves in a rather peculiar atmosphere. States members of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, at their last meeting in Bucharest, offered new initiatives to the NATO States and to all States of Europe with a view to embarking on the road of creating, step by step, the necessary preconditions for a real and effective European security system. Bilateral and multilateral negotiations are going on to this end. In the Danube valley in central Europe, which for long centuries was a hotbed of international hostilities, new prospects of peace are held out by the community of socialist countries. Relations among European States having different social and economic systems are widening in all fields of inter-State contacts. One might as well say that we are experiencing in Europe a process of easing tensions and growing stability.
80. What many view as indications of positive developments in Europe are perhaps nothing more than superficial and transitory phenomena. The policy of West Germany, with its permanent protestations against the European status quo and with its endeavours to obtain free access to atomic weapons, is a constant menace to several European States. And those allies of West Germany which support this policy, first of all the United States, are endangering the relative stability of Europe. The sources of such dangers may give rise to! new tensions and even more serious conflicts in Europe which may prove the present time to have been no more than a period of transitory stability.
81. In order to prevent such unhappy events and for the sake of upholding the actual positive trends, it is necessary for us in Europe to be on the alert and to take appropriate measures against latent dangers by, among other things, strengthening the contacts among Governments representing States of differing social systems. Recently we have heard the United States, also, making positive statements regarding East-West relations in Europe. The best way by which western European countries together with the United States may contribute to lessening the dangers of the situation in Europe and strengthening its present stability is to proceed to establish and develop contacts with the German Democratic Republic. Such contacts are already present in the economic and cultural fields; they only should be developed further towards de facto and de jure recognition. The real problems of European security and the peaceful reunification of Germany cannot be approached without recognition of both German States.
82. The Government of the Hungarian People's Republic, together with other socialist States of Europe, is ready to take part in any form of bilateral or multilateral co-operation, and even to propose such forms of co-operation as may eliminate the dangers lurking in Europe and prolong the duration of the present stability.
83. Having survived its political crisis, best illustrated by the awkward proceedings of the nineteenth session of the General Assembly, the United Nations now can see more clearly the limitations and possibilities of its activities.
84. Whatever the judgement of any delegation may be regarding the findings of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations and the ad hoc Committee of Experts on the Finances of the United Nations, there certainly Is common ground for hoping that, in the future, the United Nations may function with greater assurance and with fewer failures for the purpose of bringing Member States, great and small, closer to one another in confronting the actual problems of the world.
85. At the time of the crisis of this Organization, the attitude of Member States made it clear that they wanted to adhere to the convenant embodied in the Charter and to maintain this Organization for the sake of improving international relations and finding solutions to the burning issues of the present generation.
86. Before the beginning of this session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General made public what problems of the present international situation had prompted him to withdraw his candidacy for the next term. With due respect to his motivation, yet in the interest of the future functioning of the United Nations, I express the hope of my Government that he deems it possible to reconsider his decision. His statements made in this connexion and his appeals contained in his motivations have found response. Enjoying the confidence expressed by the Governments of Member States, he may have even greater possibilities to serve the principles of the Charter than before.
87. A founding Member of the United Nations and permanent member of the Security Council, the People's Republic of China, is still not represented in the United Nations, although it is beyond doubt that this Organization cannot get very far with its tasks until the problem of the representation of China in the United Nations is solved.
88. The majority of the States Members of the United Nations probably do not always realize that the United Nations is still a belligerent party — subject, of course, to the armistice provisions — in relation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In Panmunjom — which I visited last year — I saw the flag of the United Nations on the table of the armistice commission. Representatives of the United States armed forces stationed in South Korea sit behind the United Nations flag on the occasion of negotiations. Almost fourteen years have elapsed since the conclusion of the armistice agreement, and the United Nations is still considered a belligerent party. The United Nations should rid itself of this shame. The past should be closed. An entirely new start should be made. It is already a good sign that we have included in the agenda of this session the item entitled ''Withdrawal of all United States and other foreign forces occupying South Korea under the flag of the United Nations and dissolution of the United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea". If the Member States represented in that Commission could deem it possible to resign from the Commission, it would be beneficial to this Organization. The reunification of Korea should be left to the Korean people who are able to deal with it effectively if foreign interference is stopped. The United Nations should disentangle itself from this shameful heritage of the past.
89. Upon the initiative of the Soviet Union, the idea of general and complete disarmament as the sole guarantee of a world free from the fear of a thermonuclear holocaust entered into the debates of the past few sessions of the General Assembly. This idea has since
occupied the minds of people all over the world. No doubt any small step in this direction taken by the United Nations represents considerable progress in the implementation of the Charter. At a time, however, when an escalation of aggression is in process and a devastating war is waged, conditions are not favourable for major steps in this regard. Nevertheless, there are, at the present time, good hopes for agreement, at least, on curbing the arms race in certain respects and preventing it from being extended to further dimensions. The possibility of agreement on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and on the peaceful uses of outer space is within reach. And this bids fair prospects for the work of the present session of the General Assembly and for the world as a whole.
90. States Members of the United Nations, with their individual and common efforts within and outside this Organization, may be powerful factors in doing away with the stubborn obstacles in the way of dealing more effectively with the matters of disarmament and in creating the conditions necessary for real progress in this field where the future of all nations is in the balance.