Let me first express my deep condolences to the people of Morocco who lost their loved ones to the earthquake and the people of Libya for their loss due to the catastrophic flooding.
The world is constantly changing. We are living through difficult times and glorious moments — as human beings, as States and societies, as humankind and as global brothers and sisters. On this path, called history, we have learned that moments and situations do not fully repeat themselves fully. Instead, they rhyme. Our ability to learn from the past, to read the rhythm and flow of the verses of time is the source of progress.
That gives hope that future rhymes will be nicer and free from the mistakes we made before.
We are different as humans. States and societies, but I am certain that some things are universal — like the simple wish for a better tomorrow or the sincere joy of doing good or feeling hope when offered a helping hand in the darkest moment and being told that it is going to be alright. We are all entitled to live with dignity. We are all equal. Recognizing and accepting that is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, as postulated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those are the things that unite us. Those are the values upon which we must build our future.
Our challenges are largely shared — ensuring sustainable peace and security, ending poverty, addressing climate change and finding the best sustainable use for new technologies. Only nations with united effort, a shared vision, an urge to understand each other in our differences and a readiness to compromise will be able to tackle the great challenges of our time.
We know that our world is facing diverse, intertwined crises reversing years of sustainable development gains. That is heartbreaking. As I had the privilege to address the Sustainable Development Goals Summit on Monday. I want to focus on other equally important topics today.
We have learned from the past mistakes. We have seen horrors and grave human suffering. We do not want to end up in situations that rhyme with barbarity and cruelty. Humankind does not deserve war. death, aggression and suppression. That is why sovereign States gathered 78 years ago and formed the United Nations.
The United Nations is really uniting nations. We have been trying to build a world where the ones in need should be noticed and helped. We have learned to hear and accept various voices. We have been shaping a world that is based on freedom, justice and rules.
But the world is in danger. Regrettably, we see attempts to bend the rules or even ignore and forget them. We have witnessed ethnic cleansing against the Tigrayan population in western Tigray. which resulted in many deaths, sexual violence, mass detention and the forced displacement of thousands. We have heard the painful stories of slavery and murder of Yazidi girls. Hundreds of thousands have been killed in the war in Yemen. The humanitarian crisis is devastating — famine and diseases are raging on. There are numerous violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. In Afghanistan, girls are denied their basic human right — education. Would anyone accept this faith for their daughter? The Iranian population has lived for decades with severe limitations of fundamental rights. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights stated last year that there are serious human rights violations against Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region, and there are massive restrictions of the fundamental rights of people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
These are not merely statistics or abstract passages in annual reports, but real and utterly tragic stories happening to our fellow citizens, to people like us. These are people like Anna, who worked in a shop in Kyiv. When war started, she remembers constant running to different shelters, schools, churches and nearby houses. Bombs were constantly falling, and one could only hope that the explosions would stop. Shelters were overcrowded with small babies, older men and women, cats and dogs. Everybody was nervous, and the shops were empty. With her daughter and cat. Anna decided to leave her hometown of Kyiv, which was in flames. Like the thousands of others running for their lives. Anna took the difficult journey and made it to Estonia. There she especially enjoys the sunsets and is amazed at how quiet it is. Sometimes when it thunders, she prays that it is just thunder.
Russia escalated its aggression against Ukraine into a full-scale war more than a year and a half ago already. As we speak, a permanent member of the Security Council, the Russian Federation, is shamelessly destroying hospitals, kindergartens, grain storage facilities and schools. We have to be very clear: Russia invaded another sovereign country, using a fabricated pretext. The real reason for the aggression against Ukraine lies in Russia’s neo-imperial and neocolonial aspirations. Russia wants to destroy Ukraine, occupy it and drain it of its resources to fuel the ideology of its greatness. What is there great about colonizing another country? The outcome of the war will greatly determine the future world in which we and our kids will live. Will it be dominated by the brutal use of violence by those who commit crimes and destroy others? Or will we live in a world in which law and order, justice and universally accepted rules will prevail? What kind of lessons will we have learned from Russia’s aggression? How will we be able to discredit that aggression as a tool for rogue statecraft for generations to come?
The answer is that Russia’s political and military leadership must bear individual criminal responsibility for planning, launching and waging the war of aggression against Ukraine. It is a crime against peace. It is a crime of aggression. It is a leadership crime. Russia abuses its authority in the Security Council and tries to convince the world that black is white. But it is not. A lie is always a lie. no matter how nice it sounds. The votes in the General Assembly have proven that there are fewer and fewer of those who tend to believe Russian lies. The Charter of the United Nations states that the purpose of the United Nations is to prevent and eradicate threats to peace and suppress of acts of aggression. Russia has continuously breached that core principle. The fact that Russia is member of the Security Council does not legitimize its actions. A crime is a crime, no matter what. Therefore, a tribunal should be created, and should it be based on the authority of the General Assembly, it would have the desired international legitimacy. If we allow impunity to prevail, we put a question mark on our own virtues, values and moral norms. The whole concept of international adjudication and arbitration would be under threat, which would deeply undermine international law. That is why the international reaction and response to Russia’s crimes are of existential significance for us all.
The situation calls on us to really use the tools at our disposal for protecting international law. based on the United Nations Charter. Therefore, we need to reform the Security Council. Now is the time, as the
world is out of joint. Now is the time, as it has become more evident than ever. The Security Council is close to a dead end. unable to act and make decisions on the greatest conflict in the heart of Europe since the Second World War. That undermines the Charter. Maintaining international peace and security is the raison d’etre of the Security Council. But instead the Council is paralysed, which has numerous negative implications globally, including the inability to provide conflict resolution or solutions concerning migration and food security. That dangerous trend does not have its foundation in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, but it has crystallized because of that.
The world needs a Security Council that is able to fulfil its tasks, live up to the expectations of its founding members and. above all. give hope for better days to those suffering under fear, oppression and violence. Those responsible for aggression and conflicts must face justice — even those that enjoy the right of the veto in the Security Council. In order to ensure that the Security Council can fulfil the tasks conferred upon it by the Charter, there is no alternative other than to adjust the Council’s structure and working methods. And yes. that is possible. We should rise up together and join voices in calling for Security Council reform.
Of course, it is hard. We are different in our positions. Reform has already been on the table for many decades. But instead of complaining how impossible Security Council reform will be. let us make an extra effort towards it. We owe it to the starving, physically injured, mentally damaged and homeless boys and girls in Rakhine. Tigray. Syria. Yemen and Ukraine. Whose children will be next? We need to stick together and protect international law. based on the Charter. If we cannot agree on all the ideas for reform, let us concentrate on commonalities. Let us take the small steps that we can already take today. We all need to show some flexibility. Both issues — the composition of the Security Council and its working methods — must be seriously addressed. It is time to abandon the well- known and documented group positions. We. as the united world community, need to start afresh. Let us turn a blank page and work closely together to strongly make the point that enough is enough. For the greater good, it would make perfect sense to take one step back from old positions in order to move three steps forward. Let us keep in mind what is at stake here.
The central issue is of course the exercise of the right to the veto. There should be no right to the veto if it is suspected that the country exercising it may have acted against international law. Estonia supports the proposal of the Accountability. Coherence and Transparency group to limit the right of the veto in cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. The Charter stipulates in Chapter V that a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting in the Security Council. We call on the Council to always implement that provision, as was done in the early decades of the United Nations. It is unacceptable for an aggressor to exercise the right of the veto, making it impossible for the Security Council to act. In fact, there is a way to prevent a Security Council member from abusing its right of the veto. Let us use it.
As for the future composition of the Security Council, there should always be a fair distribution among continents and regions. Small, medium-sized and large States should all be represented. Only then will we have a balanced Council truly able to address the world. In addition, the Security Council should be more transparent and open, which will immensely increase its efficiency. Building on that, the belief that the Security Council is able to maintain international peace and security will be restored.
The international community has a right to know what was discussed at the Council. If there were a clear solution on the table and there were a Member State that simply blocked it. and in doing so increased the suffering of people, then that should be stated publicly. In situations in which the Security Council is unable to function as expected, it is definitely a positive development that the General Assembly has gained more prominence and influence in addressing issues related to peace and security. We saw that, for example, in the process of adopting resolutions on Ukraine and implementing the initiative concerning the right to the veto. We in the General Assembly should be able to collectively overcome the veto in the Security Council, if the situation requires.
The concept of war and peace already started to change during the nineteenth century. War was gradually seen to be a state of confusion or disorientation of mind. It became clearer and clearer that nobody actually wins a war or gains anything from it. States started to understand that their national interests are better served in times of peace than in times of war. Peace generated welfare.
After the World Wars, the international community said “never again”. The United Nations was created to serve that exact purpose. The question we must ask ourselves is. do we need to create a new. better world order that is up to the task? Are we wise and willing enough to use international law to resolve conflicts to maintain peace and security? Are we heading towards dark days or glorious ones? That is entirely up to us. We are the ones who determine the future. We are the ones responsible for it. But let us start by fixing the Security Council.