The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR, like other delegations whose representatives have already taken the floor, deems it necessary to express its views on the basic questions raised by the present international situation and on the work of the United Nations during the period under consideration.
8. Recent international developments have led to increased tension in relations between States. The armed aggression by the United Kingdom, France and Israel against Egypt must be regarded as one of these developments. In their statements the representatives of a whole series of countries have quoted many convincing facts by virtue of which the aggressors stand revealed to world public opinion in their true colours. Mr. Fawzi, the representative of Egypt, in his brilliant speech of 28 November 1956 during the general debate [597th meeting], gave us a moving description of the tragedy through which the Egyptian people is now living.
9. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR has already had an opportunity to express its views on the aggression carried out by the United Kingdom, France and Israel against Egypt; I shall therefore be brief.
10. As will be recalled, on 24 November 1956 the General Assembly by an overwhelming majority adapted a resolution in which it reiterated its call to the United Kingdom, France and Israel for the complete and immediate withdrawal of their forces from Egyptian territory. The question naturally arises: what have the Governments of the United Kingdom, France and Israel done to comply with this and earlier resolutions and when do they intend to withdraw their troops from Egyptian territory?
11. Unfortunately it must be noted that, in their statements here, the representatives of the United Kingdom, France and Israel have not answered this question clearly. Mr. Lloyd, the United Kingdom representative, who has made several statements from this rostrum, endeavoured to mislead the General Assembly, to deceive world public opinion and, by his deliberately incorrect interpretation of the word “immediately”, to justify the continued presence of the armed forces of the aggressors on Egyptian territory. The statements of the United Kingdom, French and Israel representatives give the impression that the original plan of the Western Powers to remove the Suez Canal from Egyptian control and place it under international control in the form of an “association of canal users” or in some other form, is still in force.
12. Faced with the determined opposition of the Egyptian people, supported by all peace-loving nations, the aggressors suffered a setback. Now they are trying to achieve their ends indirectly. That is why the United Kingdom, France and Israel want the United Nations Emergency Force to be stationed throughout the Suez Canal zone and remain there until the plan for the “internationalization” of the Canal has been imposed upon Egypt. Our delegation considers that the General Assembly should not allow the Force to become a tool in the hands of the United Kingdom, France and Israel and a means of bringing pressure to bear on Egypt in connexion with the general settlement of the problems relating to the Suez Canal and the Arab-Israel dispute.
13. Speaking on 22 November 1956 in the general debate [589th meeting], Mr. Pineau, the representative of France, accused the Soviet Union of trying to hamper any settlement of the Suez problem and to aggravate the situation in the Middle East. This assertion by Mr. Pineau is a crude distortion of reality and is nothing more than slander directed against the Soviet Union. The whole world knows that it was the Soviet Union which consistently tried and is still trying to bring about the peaceful settlement of the Suez problem with due regard to the interests of Egypt and of the other States concerned. It is enough to recall the Soviet Union’s efforts to find a generally acceptable procedure for the peaceful settlement of the Suez question, at the London Conference, in the Security Council and here in the General Assembly.
14. Speaking on 26 November, [595th meeting], Mr. Casey, the Australian representative, alleged that the nationalization of the Suez Canal by the Egyptian Government had in the final analysis led to war. According to Mr. Casey it would appear that the Egyptian Government is responsible for the outbreak of war, although we are all aware that those really responsible for the war are the United Kingdom, France and Israel. This is simply shifting the blame from the guilty to the innocent. Yet this is not the first time that Mr. Casey has assumed the role of advocate for the most aggressive circles of the Western Powers.
15. The General Assembly should place full and entire responsibility for the situation in Egypt on the Governments of the United Kingdom, France and Israel, which, by their aggressive action, have shattered the peace and security of the Middle East and flagrantly violated the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.
16. The Suez Canal rightly belonged, belongs and should belong to the Egyptian people.
17. It must be quite clear by now that any attempts to preserve colonial domination are doomed to failure. The United Nations should realize that tremendous changes have taken place in Asia and Africa during the post-war years and that a new situation has arisen.
18. The growth of the movement of national liberation is reflected even in the work of the United Nations. Proof of this is to be found in the fact that questions such as those of Algeria, Cyprus and West Irian have been submitted to the United Nations for consideration.
19. Peace-loving people throughout the world are impatiently waiting for international tension to be relaxed and the threat of another world war eliminated. The great responsibility of the United Nations to the peoples of the whole world compels us to set about solving the problems before it with great care and attention.
20. The representatives of Peru, Australia, Cuba and certain others who have spoken here, however, have a completely different approach — they are fanning the flames of hatred and enmity among peoples. In trying to bring the foreign policy of the Soviet Union into disrepute, they talked themselves into the absurd assertions that the peaceful deeds of the USSR and all the measures it has recently taken to relax international tension and improve relations between States are merely tactical manoeuvres and that the entire post-war history of the USSR betrays its aggressive intentions.
21. We all know that the task of strengthening peace and ensuring international security is for the Soviet Government not a matter of tactics or diplomatic manoeuvres but a corner-stone of foreign policy.
22. The Byelorussian people, like the peoples of other countries, vigorously reject all slanderous attacks on the Soviet Union and the people’s democracies. And the Byelorussian delegation will continue to oppose any proposals to interfere in the internal affairs of Hungary. The task of solving the problems that have arisen in Hungary lies exclusively within the domestic jurisdiction of the Hungarian State.
23. Many representatives who have spoken in the general debate devoted great attention to the questions of reducing armaments and armed forces, prohibiting the production and use of atomic and hydrogen weapons and eliminating the threat of another war. It must be said that these problems are of prime importance among the outstanding international problems that at present perturb the peoples of the world. Throughout the entire post-war period the question of disarmament has been placed on the General Assembly’s agenda and discussed year after year.
24. During these discussions there has, on more than one occasion, been a rapprochement between the views of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the USSR, but as can be seen by all, no agreement on this important problem has yet been reached. Ordinary people throughout the world naturally wonder why the disarmament problem remains unsolved.
25. In our opinion it has not been solved because in certain Western countries there are influential groups that do not desire a relaxation of international tension and stubbornly adhere to the bankrupt “from a position of strength” policy. These groups are counting on the perpetuation of the cold war, on a continued armaments race and on preparations for another world war.
26. I do not wish to be accused of making unfounded assertions and will therefore refer to specific examples. As the United Press agency reported on 23 February 1956, Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization of the United States of America, Mr. Flemming, informed the United States Congress that the cold war could last for thirty to forty years and that the United States Government was making its plans accordingly. This statement shows what the ruling circles of the United States of America are dreaming about. The United States is not prepared to end the cold war.
27. I should also like to draw attention to the statements of highly-placed United States officials, especially military officials, who at regular intervals come forward with an apologia for war, the armaments race and nuclear weapons. Thus for example on 4 February 1956, Mr. Quarles, United States Secretary of the Air Force, stated at a conference on jet-age problems that the United States was prepared to use nuclear weapons in a local war as well as in a world war, and General Twining, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, stated on 28 January 1956 that the day is quickly drawing near when any conflict will involve the use of nuclear weapons.
28. These statements show that the military leaders of the United States intend to use nuclear weapons in local wars as well as in the third world war that they are planning.
29. It is well-known that all the time new military bases are being constructed round the peace-loving countries and that, as Mr. Brucker, the United States Secretary of the Army, said in February 1956 at a meeting of the National Press Club, the United States is actively helping to train 200 divisions in various countries. On 8 March 1956 the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives approved a bill for the appropriation of an additional $2,000 million for the construction of 292 new military bases in foreign countries.
30. Military expenditures have been increased inordinately in a number of Western countries, diverting vast resources to non-productive purposes. This is particularly true in the case of the countries that are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Since 1949 the military expenditure of the United States has increased almost four times and that of France three times. The Times of 9 March 1956 stated that the United Kingdom had spent £5,700 million sterling for military purposes over the last four years and that the country had not of course had sufficient resources for such expenditures. These are the facts and figures.
31. Mr. Belaunde, the Peruvian representative, in his statement of 27 November 1956 during the general debate [597th meeting] took the liberty of stating that he had read with dismay the latest suggestion of the Soviet Union on disarmament. The fears aroused in Mr. Belaunde by the Soviet Union’s constructive new disarmament proposals are understandable because Mr. Belaunde is the spokesman for Western Monopolistic groups, which fear any kind of real disarmament as much as the devil fears holy water. For them the armaments race is a most profitable business, pouring as it does a stream of gold into their coffers.
32. Mr. Martino, the representative of Italy, in his statement during the general debate, said that international events had seriously undermined international confidence. He added that: “In order to smooth the path towards such agreement [on disarmament], which is eagerly awaited by all peoples, it is necessary that some specific action should be taken ... to restore confidence.” [588th meeting, para. 122.]
33. Mr. Martino’s argument is not new. It was repeatedly advanced by the United States and the United Kingdom representatives when the disarmament question was being examined in the Disarmament Commission and the Disarmament Sub-Committee. In this connexion we would merely ask whether the aggression committed by the United Kingdom, France and Israel against Egypt does not constitute a serious blow to international confidence.
34. The Soviet Union, the main objective of whose foreign policy is to maintain and strengthen peace and to avert another world war, is exerting unremitting efforts in the United Nations to achieve a solution of the disarmament problem. It has given abundant tangible proof of its desire to solve, once and for all, the question of disarmament and the prohibition of atomic and hydrogen weapons, which is of vital importance to the peoples of all countries.
35. The Soviet Government, desiring to make a decisive contribution towards reducing and relaxing international tension and eliminating the threat of another war, recently took a number of practical steps in the field of disarmament. The most important of these is the Soviet Government’s decision to reduce the armed forces of the USSR by almost two million men. The people’s democracies have also reduced their armed forces. The Western Powers, however, did not follow the example of the Soviet Union and the people’s democracies. The next move is therefore not up to the Soviet Union but the Western Powers, which should agree to reduce their armaments and armed forces and to renounce and completely prohibit the use of atomic and hydrogen weapons. The first step in this direction would be for the Western Powers to agree to stop testing nuclear weapons. Peace-loving peoples are waiting for these steps to be taken; they expect not words but deeds from the Western Powers.
36. The Byelorussian delegation fully supports the statement made by Mr. Shepilov, Chairman of the Soviet delegation. It wholeheartedly endorses the Soviet Government’s proposals of 17 November 1956 on disarmament and the relaxation of international tension. These proposals reflect the ardent desire of the peoples of the Soviet Union to avert another world war, to strengthen peace and security throughout the world and to restore confidence and co-operation among states. Our delegation expresses the hope that the USSR proposals will be supported by the Member States of the United Nations, since they correspond to what all nations desire and are designed to strengthen peace and security throughout the world.
37. I should now like to say a few words about the situation in West Germany. This is a particular source of concern to us, because in the first half of the twentieth century Byelorussia was twice the victim of an invasion launched by German militarists and suffered enormous material and manpower losses. The Byelorussian people, as one of Germany’s closest neighbours, cannot view with indifference what is now happening in West Germany. Our people are vitally interested in averting another war in Europe and resolutely opposed to the rearmament of West Germany. We cannot remain indifferent to the law recently adopted by the Bundestag introducing universal military service in the Federal Republic of Germany. The adoption of this law paves the way for the creation of the largest army in Western Europe at a time when the Governments of many countries are trying to find specific means of achieving disarmament and when certain States have already reduced their armed forces.
38. The ruling circles of West Germany have embarked upon the same course as that taken by German Nazism. At this moment a new aggressive Wehrmacht is being formed, led by Hitlerite generals and made up of half a million men, with armoured and air force units; and the production of armaments is being increased considerably.
39. The Adenauer Government has already made detailed plans for the organization of the West German armed forces. According to the West German Press, steps are being taken to establish twelve divisions, which will later be increased to sixty.
40. West Germany will have an air force of about 2,500 modern aircraft. Plans are also being made to establish a navy consisting of 50,000 men at the outset, a figure which will later be increased. The task of creating an army is entirely in the hands of former fascist generals such as Heusinger, Kesselring, Manteuffel and Ramke, whose names are all too familiar to us.
41. It should also be noted that the armaments industry has been re-established in West Germany with the encouragement and assistance of the United States. In 1955, the country had over 40 factories and plants producing armaments. Persons who are well known to all and who financed Hitler’s army and supplied it with weapons, namely Krupp, Schacht, Flick, Abs and others, have seized control of the West Germany economy. There is now much talk in West Germany of providing the newly-created army with atomic weapons.
42. Experience has taught us to be vigilant and not to sit idly by but to do everything in our power to ensure that Europe will never again be the scene of war. German imperialists and revanchistes following in Hitler’s footsteps should be given due notice that the peace-loving peoples will never again allow West Germany to become a hotbed of war in Europe.
43. The elimination of artificial barriers to the expansion of international trade would considerably strengthen friendly relations between States and promote their peoples’ welfare. The Economic and Social Council, as we know, has the duty to consider means of fostering international trade, to promote the industrialization of the under-developed countries, and the development of their national economies and to examine ways of raising levels of employment and levels of living. The Council has certainly done some useful work in this field. It has, for example, begun to pay greater attention to economic conditions in under-developed countries and has set up a commission on international commodity trade.
44. At the same time it should be noted that the Economic and Social Council has not yet taken any constructive steps to promote unhampered international trade on the basis of mutual economic advantage. It has not done enough to promote international economic co-operation based on the principle of equal rights, and has not always done all it should to defend the interests of the under-developed countries and to support their efforts to develop their national economies.
45. As is known, the Soviet Union has consistently tried to achieve broad economic co-operation with all countries regardless of their social systems. We have always believed that the peoples of different countries should share their production experience and scientific, artistic and technical achievements.
46. The United Nations should take steps to create favourable conditions for the development of unhampered international trade and economic co-operation among States. The illegal decision imposing an embargo on trade with the People’s Republic of China must be repealed.
47. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR considers that the grant of technical assistance to economically under-developed countries can be a valuable means of supplementing those countries’ own efforts to develop their national economies.
48. The Government of the Byelorussian SSR, for its part, has already contributed 800,000 roubles to the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance during the past few years.
49. We consider that in future a larger number of countries must be induced to provide such assistance by sending experts and offering fellowships for the purpose of training national cadres in the under-developed countries. This will promote international co-operation in the interchange of scientific and technical knowledge and production techniques, to the economically underdeveloped countries’ undoubted benefit.
50. At every session of the General Assembly the Byelorussian delegation has advocated the creation of favourable conditions for unhampered international trade and economic co-operation on the basis of the principle of the equality of all the countries concerned. We have always attached great importance to efforts to extend international economic co-operation as an important factor in the peaceful coexistence of States with different social system. The United Nations must condemn discrimination in economic relations and particularly in trade.
51. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR supports the Soviet delegation’s proposal to convene a world economic conference in 1957 to discuss the further development of international trade and the setting up of an international trade organization within the framework of the United Nations. A conference of this kind would help to restore to normal the flow of international trade and would contribute towards the relaxation of international tension and the establishment of friendly relations between States.
52. International contacts play an important part in strengthening friendly relations between States and establishing international confidence. Meetings between statesmen of countries with different social and political systems and visits of parliamentary and other delegations and of tourists are no longer a rarity. We welcome the expansion of personal contacts and for our part are doing everything possible to enable more delegations and tourists from all countries of the world to visit our Republic. Suffice it to say that many delegations and tourists have recently visited the Byelorussian SSR; they were all given every opportunity to establish broad contacts with the population without any restrictions whatsoever, and everywhere they went the Byelorussian people met them with great friendliness and hospitality.
53. We must not, however, rest on our laurels. The United Nations should help to develop contacts among people of different nations, encourage exchanges of parliamentary, social, scientific and business delegations and promote international tourism, festivals and sporting and theatrical events. The constructive value of these international contacts is that they will undoubtedly strengthen friendship among peoples, and as long as this friendship exists and develops, the forces of war will be kept in check.
54. The responsibility of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace and for the future of the world has never been so great as it is today. World public opinion expects the activities of the United Nations to be. completely and fully in accordance with the noble purposes and principles of its Charter, which are designed to maintain universal peace and security.
55. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR, for its part, has at every session of the General Assembly vigorously supported and will in future support measures to develop international co-operation, to strengthen mutual understanding and confidence among States, to relax international tension and to. promote peace throughout the world.
56. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR is confident that the General Assembly will discharge its duties and will make a worthy contribution to the noble cause of eliminating the threat of another world war and strengthening international peace and friendship.