Albania

In participating for the first time in the Assembly’s general debate, which is held at each session, the delegation of the People’s Republic of Albania wishes to emphasize that its Government holds the United Nations in high regard, that it respects the Purposes and Principles of the Charter and believes in the possibility of making the United Nations “a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends” of peace, friendship and co-operation. Although the People’s Republic of Albania was for ten years unjustly refused admission to the United Nations, it has respected and supported the Charter in all its activities as a free and peaceful country. Now that it has been admitted, the Albanian Government hopes that its contribution to the cause of peace by the side of other Member States will be all the more effective. 60. With the President’s permission I should like to outline briefly my Government’s policy and its attitude to some of the main problems before this session. That policy is dictated by the vital interests of the People’s Republic of Albania, which are inseparable from the interests of peace. The Albanian people are well known throughout their long history, for having fought the foreign invader and shed their blood for freedom and independence without ever surrendering. 61. During the Second World War, Albania was one of the first victims of Fascist aggression: the country was invaded first by Fascist Italy and later by Nazi Germany. Already on 7 April 1939, the Albanian people had taken up arms against the aggressors; at the rice of exceptionally heavy sacrifices, they fought side by side with the other Allied peoples until victory against the common enemy was achieved. They liberated their country and put a people’s democracy into power, thus becoming masters of their fate. It is only now that Albania is truly a free, independent and sovereign country. 62. On this twenty-ninth day of November, the Albanian people are celebrating their national holiday, the twelfth anniversary of their liberation from Hitlerite occupation. In the course of this relatively short time, profound changes have occurred in Albania. Thanks to the persistent toil of its people and the very valuable and disinterested aid of the Soviet Union and other peoples’ democracies, Albania, once a backward agrarian country, has developed both its agriculture and its industry. At the time of its liberation, 85 per cent of the people were illiterate; today, there are no illiterates under forty years of age; the number of schools has increased fourfold, and the first university, comprising six higher institutes with seventeen faculties, has been founded. The number of health establishments has increased from nine to 400. 63. I have mentioned these facts to explain the deep interest of the Albanian people and their Government in the maintenance of international peace and security. Despite our achievements, a great deal remains to be done to make the life of our people happier and more beautiful. That is why we consider peace the most precious possession, and an indispensable condition for the building of our country. That is why all my Government’s efforts in international affairs tend towards peace; they are inspired by a policy of peace and friendship among peoples which corresponds to the fundamental principles of the Charter. 64. The Government of the People’s Republic of Albania recognizes and supports the well-known five, principles of peaceful coexistence, considering them a solid foundation for sincere and fruitful relations between countries, irrespective of their social system. On the basis of these principles, it has established diplomatic relations with twenty countries and commercial exchanges with an even greater number of nations, and it is ready and willing to establish normal relations with every country desiring this. The People’s Republic of Albania has never intervened and does not now intervene in the domestic affairs of other countries, just as it does not wish or tolerate interference by others in its own affairs. 65. The Albanian Government has always desired relations of friendship, co-operation and good neighbourliness with adjacent countries, and it has always acted accordingly. The restoration of normal relations with the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia corresponds to the traditional friendship between our two peoples and their vital interests. My country maintains, normal relations with Italy, and it desires to have such relations also with Greece in the common interest of the two countries and of peace in the Balkans. 66. Recently, the People’s Republic of Albania established diplomatic relations with certain other countries, such as India, Egypt, Finland and Austria. We think that we should expand our friendly relations in the economic and cultural fields. 67. The Albanian Government has welcomed the liberation and independence of such friendly countries as the Sudan, Morocco and Tunisia and their admission to the United Nations. The Albanian people has traditional links of friendship with the Arab peoples and with all the peoples of the Near East and the Middle East. The Albanian Government feels it would be desirable to renew and consolidate these friendly links for the common good and for the cause of peace. 68. With the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China and the other peoples’ democracies, the People’s Republic of Albania maintains very dose relations of friendship and multilateral co-operation, founded on the just principles of equality, mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, of noninterference and fraternal co-operation and assistance. In the future too, my country is resolved to develop and consolidate these friendly relations, which represent an element of prime importance for the safeguarding of its independence and future development. 69. The delegation of the People’s Republic of Albania is participating in the Assembly’s work for the first time at a moment difficult for international relations and for the United Nations itself, a moment when the unprovoked aggression of the United Kingdom, France and Israel against peaceful Egypt has caused deep and justified concern among all the peoples and endangered peace. 70. Only recently, thanks to the energy and the coordinated efforts of various countries — including the socialist countries to which much of the credit in this evolution is due — the dominant features of the international situation were a certain slow but steady relaxation, and the tendency to solve international problems by peaceful means. The Geneva meeting of the Heads of Government of the four great Powers which met in Geneva in 1955, aroused great hopes in the hearts of peoples; it dissipated the sombre clouds which had gathered for ten years on the horizon as a result of the “cold war” and of the policy of a “position of strength”. The spirit of Geneva became a symbol of a new atmosphere in international relations, in which predominated the efforts to establish understanding and confidence between States with different systems, to establish and develop relations between countries in the spirit of peaceful coexistence and of the United Nations Charter. A number of events which occurred during that brief period bear eloquent witness that the policy originating in Geneva was a practical policy in harmony with the interests of all peoples. New prospects emerged favorable to peace and international co-operation, new hopes were born to free humanity from the heavy burden of the armaments race and from the nightmare of a third world war. 71. But this positive outlook in the evolution of the international situation was brutally changed by the concerted aggression of the United Kingdom, France and Israel against Egypt. Suddenly, a new and very grave situation was created: peace was broken, a free, peaceful Member of the United Nations was attacked and invaded; towns like Port Said and Gaza were heavily damaged, thousands of innocent Egyptian citizens, including women and children, were massacred. The aggression against Egypt has caused universal revulsion and cannot be allowed to go unpunished. 72. Why did the United Kingdom, France and Israel attack Egypt? I do not wish to go very deeply into the problem, which has been amply debated and analysed, but will confine myself to a few observations. In the eyes of the aggressors, Egypt was guilty of wishing to live in freedom and sovereign independence, of having the audacity to declare its opposition to colonialism. Colonialists, however, hate free peoples, that is why the attack was made. The Albanian people have full sympathy with the just cause and the heroic resistance of their friends, the Egyptian people. The United Kingdom and France resented the nationalization of the Universal Suez Canal Company by Egypt, because that legitimate action of a sovereign State violated their imperialist interests. Other Western countries took the same attitude in this affair. It is common knowledge that they made many joint attempts to intimidate Egypt and deprive it of its sovereign rights over the Suez Canal by various means, such as the Dulles plan, the Suez Canal Users Association, etc. But Egypt held firm. It had justice and right on its side. It administered the Canal and ensured free navigation in accordance with the 1888 Constantinople Convention. 73. The question came up before the Security Council, where unanimous agreement was reached on six principles which were to serve as a basis for the settlement of the dispute. Why did the United Kingdom and France disregard these principles, choosing the path of aggression? Why did they violate the Charter which lays down that “all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force”? 74. The facts prove that the aggression in Egypt was intended not only for the seizure of the Suez Canal, but was part of a vast plot against the independence of Egypt and the other Arab countries, against the peace and freedom of nations. The indomitable Egyptian people, with the moral support of all peaceful peoples, stopped the aggressors. There can be no doubt that they will achieve victory because their cause is just. The critical situation created in the Near East and the Middle East by the aggression against Egypt is now threatening the independence of other Arab countries. A vast political and military propaganda campaign is in full swing against Syria. Public opinion is rightly alarmed and demands that the aggressors should be stopped in time. 75. The Albanian delegation has already clearly defined its Government’s position on the question of the aggression against Egypt. We support Egypt’s just cause and its resistance to aggression. We believe that the United Nations must display energy, that it must end aggression against Egypt by compelling the forces of invasion to evacuate Egyptian territory completely and without delay, so as to restore peace in the Near East and eliminate the danger of war which is threatening us. 76. In their statements before the General Assembly, certain representatives ventured to establish comparisons and analogies between the Anglo-French-Israel aggression in Egypt and the events in Hungary, indulging in various kinds of slander. I have no intention of reverting to this matter, which is already quite clear. I merely wish to say that if any connexion between the two events is looked for, it exists in the fact that they can both be traced to a common source, i.e., the reactionary Western groups, known to be hostile to the freedom of nations, whether they be the nations marching forward on the road to socialism or those which have shaken off the colonial yoke. 77. The aggression against Egypt was to open the way for the subjugation of the free peoples of the East and for the crushing of the Algerians, Cypriots and other subject peoples engaged in the fight for their freedom. The counter-revolutionary putsch at Budapest was to overthrow the people’s power in Hungary and restore the Fascist Horthy régime, creating a Fascist State, a hotbed of war in the centre of Europe. Thus, the two events are linked as parts of one plot. In addition, the events in Hungary were certainly intended by their organizers to serve as a cloak for their aggression in Egypt, which explains the staggering propaganda effort displayed with regard to them and also certain attempts to use the United Nations for this purpose. 78. There can be no doubt that, after the events of Egypt and Hungary, the peoples will show increased vigilance in defence of their freedom and their achievements, preventing a return to Fascism or colonialism. The initial words of the United Nations Charter are these: “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind — ” I venture to recall these words to emphasize that, although the international situation has seriously deteriorated owing to the aggression against Egypt, we should remember that the United Nations was created to meet a historic need of the peoples in their struggle against Fascism and to guarantee international peace and security after the victory. 79. The peoples place their hopes in the United Nations and ask the United Nations to understand, and work for the realization of, their fundamental aspirations. We have arrived at an epoch when war is not inevitable, when humanity may remove this scourge. We are entitled to hope that the United Nations will act more effectively in future for this end. In our delegation’s view, it should be remembered that the United Nations was not set up to be an organization of countries representing the same system and that it is not, in fact, such a body, but on the contrary an organization of all Member States irrespective of their social or political system. 80. We also think that the United Nations will be of limited effectiveness as long as the great People’s Republic of China is debarred from its legitimate place in our Organization to the detriment of peace and international co-operation. As a result of this absurd attitude which is harmful to the prestige and cause of the United Nations, the 600 million inhabitants of China constituting a fourth of humanity, are still unrepresented. The People’s Republic of China is a great world Power whose influence in international relations is indisputable and increasing from day to day. It must be plain that no international problem of any importance can be effectively settled without participation of the People’s Republic of China. We are convinced that by her presence in this body, China could make a substantial contribution to the defence of peace and increase the efficiency and authority of the United Nations. 81. The agenda of the present session of the General Assembly is in itself an eloquent reflection of the important problems before the United Nations and the various peoples of the world. Several of these problems relate to. international security, to the freedom of peoples still languishing under colonial domination, or still placed under the Trusteeship System which, in our view, cannot be continued indefinitely. Particular attention should be given to economic and social problems, especially to economic co-operation and trade. When these problems are considered, the Albanian delegation will seek to make its modest contribution in the spirit of the policy of peace and friendly co-operation pursued by its Government. 82. At the present stage, the Government of the People’s Republic of Albania considers that the fundamental questions are disarmament and the prohibition of atomic and hydrogen weapons. For years the United Nations has been concerned with this problem, but unfortunately no result, no agreement has been achieved so far. The armaments race constitutes a heavy burden on world economy and a danger to peace. The nations wish to live in tranquillity, without fear of the morrow and to enjoy life; that is why they are opposed to war and the armaments race, to military blocs and to the so-called “brink of war” policy. 83. In the new atmosphere created by the Geneva meeting, the Government of the People’s Republic of Albania reduced its armed forces by 9,000 men. The Soviet Union and other peaceful countries also reduced their military strength, and it would be desirable for other countries to do likewise. 84. The Soviet Government recently made a number of new proposals to rescue the disarmament problem from stagnation. The Albanian Government fully supports the new Soviet initiative, which it regards as a very important step towards agreement on this vital question. Humanity would welcome with enthusiasm an agreement between the great Powers on the problem of disarmament and the prohibition of atomic and hydrogen weapons as the beginning of a new phase in international relations. Our delegation expresses the hope that the other great Powers will display the same goodwill as the Soviet Union and that the present session of the General Assembly, which has begun in an atmosphere of gloom, may conclude by an agreement on the most important problem of our epoch. 85. We think that atomic energy, that brilliant invention of human genius, should serve only to improve and embellish the life of men, and not to destroy. We wish to see that newly founded International Atomic Energy Agency respond to the hopes of the nations for a peaceful use of this energy. 86. The Government of the People’s Republic of Albania reaffirms its support of the efforts to create a system of collective security in Europe, which would certainly have a very favourable influence on all international relations. 87. In the field of economic co-operation, we favour the expansion of trade relations on a basis of equality and mutual advantage, without discrimination or artificial obstacles. With the growth of its economy, Albania is progressively expanding its trade with the various countries. It has supported the efforts of the Economic Commission for Europe; and the world economic conference proposed by the Soviet delegation would, in our view, make an effective contribution to the expansion of world trade and international cooperation. 88. In conclusion, let me express the hope that the work of the present session of the General Assembly will effectively contribute to a restoration of peace in the Near East, and the elimination of the threat of war and that it will bring the peoples closer together on the road of peace and friendship.