Netherlands

Mr. Stikker spoke of the necessity, in the troubled modem era, for a Foreign Minister to spend a considerable part of his time away from his country, being called upon to attend in person one international conference after another. There had been truly revolutionary changes in the exercise of the function of Foreign Minister in the preceding decades. Early in the twentieth century, personal contact between Foreign Ministers had been a great exception. Meetings in which those responsible for the foreign policy of their country gathered in great numbers and at regular intervals had been totally unknown, as had been the frank discussion of matters of international interest which Was at the moment taking place. 2. The plenipotentiaries of fifty-nine States were assembled at Flushing Meadow in order to settle together the many, important items of a lengthy agenda; mankind was indeed witnessing a profound change in international practice. That change would be considered salutary in its effects, provided always that the deliberations of the Assembly were measured by the criteria of justice and international law. Decisions should not be based on political considerations either of a purely national character or serving the interests of groups of States; if they were, then all the smaller and weaker nations would have to submit to pressure from larger and stronger Powers. 3. Even more than the League of Nations in former days, the United Nations, comprising fifty-nine countries, had become the forum of the world where the vital interests of those countries were discussed. It must not be forgotten that each of the Governments represented at the Assembly acted as the exponent of its people, large or small, and that the interests of those peoples were peace and security, freedom from want and from fear, all of which subjects figured prominently in the debates. Hence hundreds of millions were directly concerned with the results of the Assembly’s work and it was thus the duty of its Members to accomplish their task as effectively as possible. 4. Unfortunately, the ideal of a universal body, comprising all nations, had not yet been achieved. The Netherlands delegation would welcome the attainment of universality and would, favour the admission of countries which were at the moment barred by what it considered an excessive use of the veto. In particular, the Netherlands delegation would be gratified if all Members of the United Nations were to be guided by the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which had declared that the refusal to admit new Members could not be based upon considerations other than those stipulated in Article 4 of the Charter. On the other hand, the Netherlands delegation favoured the strict observance of that Article and objected, as a matter of principle, to the admission of Members which could not be expected to accept the obligations contained in the Charter or to be able and willing to carry out those obligations. The price of the ideal of universality would be too high if the conditions provided in the Charter were to be sacrificed to it. For the time being, the ideal of universality could be realized only partly, for the reasons which Mr. Stikker had explained. Moreover, the work of the Organization was still impaired by lack of agreement between the great Powers, which prevented the nations from being truly united. Hence the improvement in the international situation between the previous session of the Assembly and the current one to which the President had referred in his inspiring opening speech (220th meeting), appeared to the Netherlands delegation to be highly encouraging. 5. The United Nations had undoubtedly contributed to that lessening of international tension, although it would be unrealistic to attribute that development exclusively to the Organization. The Netherlands delegation naturally shared the views of the Secretary-General regarding the importance of the United Nations, but care should be taken not to over-estimate the results which in the prevailing circumstances had and could be achieved by the Organization. 6. On page xii of the introduction to his Annual Report, the Secretary-General stated, that the desire for independence of non-self-governing peoples and the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had “far more significance” and would “give rise to greater events in the second half of the twentieth century than will the present ideological struggle”. That was both an over-statement and an under-statement. It was an over-statement of the part which the United Nations was able to play in promoting fundamental human rights and freedoms. On the other hand, it was an under-statement with respect to the paramount importance of the ideological struggle to which the Secretary-General referred. 7. The ideological struggle resulted from two diametrically opposed concepts of human rights and freedoms. According to one concept, man as an individual had but a secondary significance; the State dominated all aspects of his life. According to the other, it was the duty of the State to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of man. There could be no doubt but that those two concepts could not be reconciled. Mr. Stikker could not accept the belittling of that ideological struggle which had led the Secretary-General to advocate an approach to the East-West difficulties "with less hysteria”. To his delegation such an expression would seem to be hardly suitable in view of the all too real significance of the fundamental divergence between East and West. In the Netherlands, personal freedom had been the avowed ideal for many centuries. That, combined with the fact that the great majority of the people adhered to the Christian faith, explained why the violation of human rights and religious freedom by certain Governments had created such a deep impression there. 8. Petitions had been addressed to the Netherlands Government, and in some instances also to the United Nations. The Netherlands Parliament had emphatically voiced that concern. No feeling was more extraneous to the people of the Netherlands than hysteria. It must be hoped that the activity of the United Nations, within the scope of its competence, might contribute to improve the situation in the countries concerned, but a note of warning should be sounded with regard both to the true importance of the problem and to the danger of over-estimating what the United Nations could really achieve. 9. A realistic appraisal of the lack of understanding between the Powers and of the resulting impediments from which the United Nations suffered fully explained why so many treaties for regional co-operation had been signed in the previous few years. It should be realized that nations living under the same fears were brought together and forced to co-operate in order to preserve their independence. Naturally such co-operation had a regional character. It was strange that such co-operation was often said to be directed against certain groups of countries; was it not logical for countries to unite in order to foster common interests and jointly to protect their freedom and security? 10. The Charter itself recognized the importance of common defence and regional co-operation in so many words, provided, as stipulated in Article 52, paragraph 1, they were “consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations”. There could be no doubt whatsoever but that the co-operation of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg in Benelux, the Organization for European Economic Co-operation, the Western Union, the North Atlantic Treaty and the Council of Europe were in complete accordance with the provisions of the Charter. None of the participating countries had any aggressive design. They desired peace — peace and the right to maintain their own character. Only an aggressor had anything to fear from them. Peace-loving nations could not but welcome that process. 11. The most recent event in that sphere was the meeting of the Council of Europe at Strasbourg. In that case also there was no question of sinister designs against any country whatsoever nor of a tendency to disintegrate the United Nations or to underestimate the importance and the potentialities of the Organization. The activities of the two bodies were entirely compatible. The Council of Europe should be fully, aware of what was already being done by the United Nations in the field of international co-operation. There was no reason, however, for the United Nations to consider the Council as a rival institution. On the contrary, if Europe, which was feeling its way towards the restoration of its economy, with the invaluable assistance of the Marshall Plan, succeeded in achieving a better integration, if it succeeded in reducing the still existing obstacles imposed by its frontiers, especially in the economic field, that could only be welcomed by the United .Nations. 12. The experience gamed by Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the course of their efforts towards the realization of Benelux had taught them the extent of the difficulties to be overcome — even between very friendly States — on the road towards economic integration. But those difficulties should be squarely faced. They were by no means insurmountable. Only steadfast belief in the usefulness and necessity of further integration would make it possible to overcome the difficulties. The efforts of western Europe in, that field were in accordance with its historical development and with the large measure of solidarity of its component countries. Western Europe had a character and a spiritual heritage of its own, as well as a common historical task. 13. To enter into a consideration of all the items on the agenda would take too long and would be the reverse of a contribution to shortening the duration of the General Assembly. The length of its sessions had become, indeed, a matter of concern to many. The Assemblies of the League of Nations had lasted about three weeks, a period which had been rarely exceeded. The third session of the General Assembly of the United Nations had had to be prolonged after it had been working three months. The tendency of the General Assembly to remain more or less permanently in session was entirely contrary to the design of the United Nations; measures for a drastic shortening of the General Assembly were therefore absolutely necessary. The recommendations of the Special Committee on Methods and Procedures of the General Assembly had been studied by the Netherlands delegation with great attention; they deserved close consideration. In that connexion, it was above all the responsibility of Chairmen of Committees to see to it that discussions were kept strictly in order and not unnecessarily prolonged. The heavy task of the Chairman could perhaps be lightened if it were decided at the beginning of the discussions to establish a time limit for speakers. 14. Mr. Stikker wished, however, to devote a few remarks to three subjects, namely, Indonesia, technical assistance, and the problem of the Holy Places in Palestine. On the matter of Indonesia he would be brief. The Round Table Conference, uniting, the representatives of the Governments of the Netherlands, the Federated States and the Republic of Indonesia, and of the United Nations Commission for Indonesia, was meeting at The Hague, and the progress so far made justified the hope that the discussions would lead to a solution. The Netherlands Government did not deem it useful for the time being to go deeper into the matter. It would do everything in its power to attain harmonious and lasting co-operation between the two sovereign States, namely, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States of Indonesia voluntarily United in the Netherlands-Indonesian Union 15. With reference to technical assistance, the Netherlands Government wished to pay tribute to the Secretary-General and to the executive heads of the participating specialized agencies, who had done a great deal of preparatory work by drafting the comprehensive report on technical assistance for economic development1. 16. The resolutions adopted by the Economic and Social Council on the subject had taken into account the need for co-ordination, the utilization of the resources of the specialized agencies, and the importance attached to the collaboration of experts in general. They seemed to show the solutions to many problems involved in the execution of the project. 17. The Netherlands Government felt that the activities of the United Nations and the specialized agencies in the field of technical assistance had given rise to fresh hope for effective co-operation which might lead to better living conditions for millions of people in under-developed territories and to a better understanding among the peoples of the world. The problem of the underdeveloped areas was a complex one. Mr. Stikker would not touch upon the economic and financial sides of the question, as the Netherlands would be unable, at least for the time being, to contribute much to that end. He did, however, wish to draw the attention of the Assembly to the vast possibilities and scope of the Netherlands universities and technical schools, which yearly turned out a number of well trained technicians. Many technicians were therefore available for work in countries which could profit by, for instance, their vast knowledge of tropical agriculture. 18. The Netherlands Government wished to make as large a contribution as possible to those programmes, by providing under-developed countries with the opportunity of having their experts trained in. the Netherlands sand by mobilizing Netherlands experts to serve on United Nations missions or to advise other Governments at their request. 19. Turning to the problem of the Holy Places in Palestine, Mr. Stikker said that his Government had learned with great satisfaction of the termination of. strife in Israel, but that that satisfaction was somewhat diminished by its concern for the safeguarding of those places in the Holy Land which were symbols of the highest spiritual values. In view of the specific significance of the Holy Places for mankind, the Netherlands Government considered it of the greatest importance that measures should be taken to safeguard them. The Netherlands delegation was of the opinion that it could not be left only to the Governments concerned to devise a way to. safeguard them; that, in its opinion, was a matter for permanent international supervision. The Netherlands delegation therefore hoped that adequate measures for protection and safeguarding would be agreed upon during the current session. If no such agreement were reached, internationalization of the City of Jerusalem and its surroundings would have to be seriously considered. 20. The state of the world was such that the future, even the hear future, could not be viewed with undue confidence and optimism. The Unrest in China, which was spreading alarmingly, was a matter of grave concern for many; it might well spread to other parts of Asia and sow the seeds of economic disruption and political disintegration. If the significance of that phenomenon were generally understood, it would be easier jointly to achieve protection against the increasing danger. 21. In the economic field also, extremely serious problems, mostly resulting from the wary still awaited solution. That fact had been demonstrated by the monetary measures which had been adopted during the previous few days. In the cultural and social field there were phenomena in a number of countries which could not but disturb, profoundly all those who had freedom and human dignity at heart. The fact that, notwithstanding all those problems and tensions, the disaster of war had been averted, could undoubtedly be ascribed, inter alia, to the existence of the United Nations. Nevertheless, the United Nations should not close its eyes to the dangers which still beset the world. In the last analysis, the frame of mind of its Members was tire decisive factor. Even if the Organization were perfect, it would not be able to achieve anything if its Members did not observe its principles and purposes. Where good will prevailed, however, all organizational imperfections could be conquered. 22. The mentality of men, of statesmen, could not be changed by resolutions or rules of procedure. Mr. Stikker prayed that the Assembly would be endowed with the true, spirit and sense of what was right and just.