Bulgaria

I should like first, on behalf of my delegation, to congratulate the President of the General Assembly upon his election. 65. The main concern of peoples, since the beginning of the last session of the General Assembly, has undoubtedly been to preserve an uncertain and precarious peace which has been threatened daily by unforeseen and dangerous developments. Constant efforts have been made to find ways to spare the world from war which, given the present technological advances — in particular, in nuclear technology — would mean unprecedented disaster. 66. The constant efforts to preserve peace have indisputably included during the past year certain developments which have resulted in a measure of relaxation and spurred the hope that a peaceful solution of some of the bitter disputes of our time might be possible. During that period, certain matters which had long been pending, disputes which threatened to create extreme tensions, have received a more or less satisfactory settlement through negotiations. The question of Laos, which had been aggravated by foreign military interference, has been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. The birth of the Republic of Algeria is another important event which gladdens the hearts not only of the Algerian people, but of all who have supported their noble cause since the beginning of their heroic struggle for national liberation. The triumph of the Algerian people in its struggle for independence is all the more significant as it points the way to national liberation for other peoples still under colonial rule. 67. Only a few days ago, the first step was taken towards settling another question which had also been deferred for a very long time. This step was the General Assembly's decision regarding the solution of the question of West Irian. We are sure that this settlement will bring a lasting and final solution. 68. The solution of these isolated problems, which threatened to degenerate to the point where they could have touched off an armed conflict, cannot and must not, however, make us forget the dangerous turn taken by other questions no less important for the safeguarding of world peace. The statements directed against the Republic of Cuba, which were recently made in the United States by certain circles in the service of the financial interests and by eminent political figures of that country, have extremely unfavourable effects on the efforts of the peoples to strengthen the uncertain and unstable peace of the world of today. Profound disquiet is felt when, on the pretext of making a stand against the frantic campaign of threats and provocations directed against the heroic people of Cuba, members of the United States Government and the President himself declare that if, at a given time, the military forces of Cuba were such as to threaten the United States, or certain points that it considers to be strategic, the United States would take military measures in order to ensure its security and that of its allies. Hearing such statements, one wonders how a country like Cuba, with approximately one thirtieth of the population of the United States, could threaten a country which is economically and militarily the most powerful in the capitalist world. That is indeed like the fable of the wolf and the lamb. Such statements can only be made where there is a firm determination to disregard the reality of the facts resulting from the imperialist policy carried out against Cuba by United States circles. The reality is that after the military intervention in Cuba in 1961 the Government of that country decided to organize the armed forces needed to deal with possible new acts of aggression, with which the Cuban people are being daily threatened by the United States and particularly by certain influential circles in that country. 69. If there had been no such aggressive intentions, if the United States had not organized the Bay of Pigs invasion, and if the preparations made by the different counter-revolutionary organizations subsidized by powerful groups in the United States, under the eyes and with the active help of the United States authorities, had not taken place, there would doubtless have been no need for the Cuban people and the Government of Cuba to gird themselves to resist. These preparations and this direct intervention are nevertheless continuing, are becoming more and more pressing and are taking on an official character. Recently, the United States Government even decided to enlist Cuban counter-revolutionaries in the United States armed forces. 70. Other particularly significant facts about the real intentions of certain influential circles in the United States have also come to light. Not long ago, President Kennedy was obliged to submit — and Congress passed — a bill described by United States newspapers as an instrument sanctioning the use of force if necessary to prevent the dissemination of Cuban Marxism in the Western Hemisphere. Such an enactment is without precedent. It prepares the ground opens the way for direct armed intervention in the Republic of Cuba. Such an enactment is contrary to the principles of peaceful coexistence enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. It is an offence against the rules of good neighbourliness and the basic norms of international law. 71. It is obvious that there can be no question of any preparation or aggression on the part of Cuba against the United States or any other country. What the financial circles in the United States fear is certainly not aggression on the part of Cuba; what they fear are the ideas which propound the liberation of the people from the economic and social slavery imposed by the United States monopolies and of which the Republic of Cuba is the living incarnation. War is being prepared against Cuba and its peoples because they bear the torch of resistance to foreign domination and to the exploitation by United States monopolies of the countries and peoples of all Latin America. We salute from this rostrum the heroic people of Cuba and their revolutionary Government for the courage and admirable endurance they have shown in their valiant struggle against the most reactionary forces of imperialism, 72. To combat the ideas of national and social liberation by force of arms is to want to transform ideological arguments and controversy — which are bound to exist in the developing present-day world — into military aggression and armed intervention against peoples and States, and to turn ideological struggles and debates about the advantages of one regime or another into armed conflict between States. 73. Those who are preparing public opinion for aggression against Cuba are, however, forgetting to take into consideration one very important fact, which is that the international situation and the balance of forces on the world scene no longer favour imperialism. The balance of forces had radically and completely changed in favour of the countries of the socialist community and the forces of peace in general. In this respect, we cannot fail to be in agreement with Lord Home, the United Kingdom Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who declared; "It really is too dangerous to all of us in these days to allow politico-ideological crusades backed by arms. We cannot have that in the late twentieth century.” [1134th meeting, para. 57.] Indeed, by the middle of the twentieth century, the United States no longer held the monopoly of nuclear weapons on which the policy of atomic blackmail was based. The imperialist forces of the West are no longer in a position to impose their will on the peoples and small countries. The community of socialist countries formed around the Soviet Union, and the forces struggling against imperialism and for socialist transformation, now represent the determining factor in the historical development of contemporary society. There also exists a very large number of non-aligned countries which oppose with all their moral and material strength any infringement of national independence and sovereignty, any intervention in the internal affairs of States, which the imperialist countries would like to make once more the prevailing rule in international relations. 74. Those who are preparing ideological and military crusades against Cuba and its heroic people should bear in mind that the Cuban people are not alone. They have faithful friends who would not fail to support them to the utmost in their struggle to safeguard their independence. We hope that the Soviet Government's appeal contained in the Tass Agency statement of 11 September 1962 and calling on the United States Government to show patience, to remain calm and to display common sense and a realistic appreciation of the possible repercussions of its actions against Cuba — we hope, I repeat, that this appeal will be heard. There is, to be sure, no need for the socialist countries, at the present time, to undertake actions like that of the United States Government, which has asked for and just obtained the authority to mobilize 150,000 men if it considers that necessary. The socialist countries have no need to make such spectacular demonstrations, to hurl themselves into such a bustle of battle. The Bulgarian Government is in full accord with the Soviet Government's statement of 11 September. The People's Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people are ready at any moment to do what is necessary to help the Cuban people safeguard their national independence. 75. Very recently, dangerous machinations have been set on foot by responsible political figures in the United States to bring the Berlin "pot of trouble” to the boil, to use Lord Home's expression. He added: "But men who live in a nuclear age and stir the pot of trouble when it is simmering are worse than fools; they are knaves." [1135th meeting, para. 48.] However, only a few days ago Mr. McNamara, the United States Secretary of Defense, made a trip to West Germany at the head of a group of specialists in the field of nuclear weapons in order to ascertain that the nuclear forces deployed in West Germany and on the frontier of the German Democratic Republic could be put into action at any moment. On his return, Mr. McNamara held a press conference and let it be understood that the United States was readying itself to use its nuclear power in any settling of accounts by force in Berlin. The United States Press noted that Mr. McNamara's statement coincided with the efforts made by members of the United States Congress to adopt a "fight if we must" bill on Berlin, similar to the motion adopted on Cuba. 76. it is significant that the United States is preparing itself to settle accounts by force on the subject of Berlin when the Soviet Union and the socialist countries, for their part, together with other countries seeking to preserve peace, want and are proposing a pacific settlement of the German question: the conclusion of a peace treaty with Germany, in order to abolish this hotbed of war in the middle of Europe. The elimination of this permanent bone of contention from the centre of one of the regions in which a world war, and consequently a nuclear war, is most apt to be set off will beyond any doubt render an immense service to the cause of peace and the whole of mankind, However, the United States and certain other Western Powers reply to the proposals and the peaceful intentions of the Soviet Union and the socialist countries by intensive preparation for war, by incitement to a settling of accounts and the use of nuclear weapons. It is significant that the response which the Western countries persist in wanting to give to the peaceful intentions of the socialist countries and to their firm determination to have peace, both with and in Germany, is a response by force of arms. We are certain that the great majority of countries represented in the United Nations, being concerned to safeguard peace, will make their voices heard, will calm the hotheads among the Western militarists and will oblige the politicians of the same mind as these militarists to reconsider their position. It is monstrous even to think that anyone could oppose the conclusion of a peace treaty and the liquidation of all the after-effects of the Second World War by unleashing a new world war, this time a nuclear one. 77. The socialist countries are firmly resolved to liquidate this hotbed of conflict in the middle of Europe, to eliminate the after-effects of the Second World War, and thus to deprive the militarist forces of West Germany of any pretext or opportunity for advancing vengeful claims or entertaining territorial ambitions, and to prevent them from preparing for a new world-wide conflagration, 78. Despite the Geneva Agreements of 1954 on the restoration of peace in Indo-China, which provided for strict non-interference in the internal affairs of the countries of that region, the United States, through the intermediary of reactionary circles in South Viet-Nam has arrogated to itself the right to intervene directly in the internal affairs of that country. It has thus taken on the role of fomenting and organizing the struggle being carried on against the people of South Viet-Nam. At the present time, more than 10,000 United States officers and men are stationed in the territory of South Viet-Nam and are directing the war which the puppet regime of Ngo-dinh-Diem is waging against the Viet-Namese people. A United States High Command has been established at Saigon itself for the purpose of organizing a campaign of intervention, not only against the Viet-Namese people, but also against the other peoples of the region. In such circumstances, it is not by chance that provocations are systematically launched from the territory of South Viet-Nam against its neighbours, and especially against Cambodia. Such provocations were referred to in moving terms in the statement of the Cambodian representative. The dangerous activities and the provocations inspired, encouraged and directed by imperialist circles of the United States in South Viet-Nam are creating a dangerous source of tension in that part of the world. The war which the United States Army is organizing against the Viet-Namese people must be stopped, and the sooner, the better. 79. The heroic struggle of the peoples of the entire world to safeguard peace and to settle disputes through negotiation has scored some successes in recent years. Yet as long as formidable armaments exist and the arms race continues each day to become more intense, it is inconceivable that peace and security can be assured merely by the settlement of the conflicts and disputes created and fomented by the large international monopolies involved in the arms race. 80. There can be no doubt that efforts to find solutions for international problems through conciliation and negotiation are necessary and urgent, but it is only through general and complete disarmament and the elimination of the means of waging war that it will be possible at the present time to ensure a stable peace, to guarantee security for all and to inaugurate an era of peaceful coexistence and co-operation among peoples. Despite the affirmations of some Western representatives, who still like to say that the precarious peace now prevailing depends on a balance of forces, there can be no doubt that the only means of achieving a durable peace and ensuring true security is general and complete disarmament. However, the negotiations at Geneva on general and complete disarmament have shown that the Western Powers, despite their statements, are doing everything in their power to obstruct the solution of this question. 81. Only two years ago, the Western delegations were opposed to say proposal for general and complete disarmament. However, under pressure from the peoples, the Western Powers were obliged to give way and to declare, at least in words, that they were in favour of general and complete disarmament. In reality, however, they continue to practise their old policy of stubborn opposition to any constructive proposal for the achievement of general and complete disarmament. The whole set of Western proposals is so designed that, even if the United States draft were adopted, the world would never achieve disarmament. While the Soviet Union draft provides for the practical elimination of the nuclear threat as from the first stage of the disarmament process, the United States draft allows the threat of a nuclear war to hang over mankind until the end of the disarmament programme and even afterwards. The United States proposals amount in substance to an attempt to legalize nuclear armaments in one form or another. 82. During the Geneva negotiations, the Soviet Union, in a desire to accommodate the Western Powers, submitted several addenda and amendments to its draft. In his statement in the general debate [1127th meeting], Mr. Gromyko, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, announced the new concessions which the Soviet Government had agreed to make in order to take account of the position of the Western Powers in regard to the destruction of delivery vehicles for nuclear weapons during the first stage of disarmament. The Soviet delegation has already submitted its draft treaty on general and complete disarmament embodying the new Soviet concessions. We are convinced that the adoption of the original Soviet draft would have effectively and securely ensured general and complete disarmament. We hope that the Western Powers will now make a sincere effort to meet the position of the Soviet Union in order to facilitate agreement on general and complete disarmament. 83. In the face of the stalemate on the question of the discontinuance of nuclear tests resulting from the intransigent and unrealistic position of the Western Powers, the eight neutral Powers taking part in the work of the Eighteen-Nation Committee submitted a memorandum to serve as a basis for negotiations on that problem. Although the Soviet Union had earlier submitted clearly defined and scientifically sound proposals which offered a sure solution to the problem of the discontinuance of nuclear tests, it accepted the memorandum of the eight neutral Powers as a basis for negotiation almost immediately after its submission. On the other hand, the Western nuclear Powers refused to accept that memorandum as a basis for negotiations. Despite their subsequent statements, made under the pressure of world public opinion, to the effect that they accepted the memorandum as one basis for negotiations, the Western Powers have in fact adhered to their original position in regard to underground tests. Their position on the memorandum of the neutral Powers was defined at the outset. On 19 April, in response to a request for information concerning the contents of the proposal of the eight neutral countries, Mr. Macmillan, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, stated in the House of Commons: "As I understand it, the proposals would not make verification compulsory; it would be only permissive." The Western Powers are now, just as they have done in the past, making compulsory on-site inspection a prerequisite for any agreement on the discontinuance of underground tests. They thus adhere to their former positions. 84. By their proposals to discontinue nuclear tests solely in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water, the Western Powers are in reality seeking to legalize the continuation of underground tests and to continue the nuclear weapons race. 85. It was in order to continue the arms race — and especially the nuclear arms race — that the United States was the first to carry out nuclear tests in outer space during its last series of tests in the Pacific. Those tests have caused disturbances in certain layers of outer space. The United States was also first, it will be remembered, in promoting the nuclear arms race and in carrying out atomic weapons tests. The Soviet Union, which is a socialist country and therefore by its very essence a peaceful country, refuses to be the first in nuclear tests; since it had no aggressive designs or purposes, it is content to be the last to conduct such tests. 86. On the other hand, the Soviet Union prefers to be the first in peaceful competition, in the field of science which enables man to acquire new knowledge of the universe and in the conquest of outer space, and we should like to pay a tribute to its brilliant achievements. It is to achieve such objectives that the socialist countries prefer to work and are working. 87. If, however, there is a real desire to end the nuclear arms race, it is not enough to discontinue tests in outer space, in the atmosphere and under water; it is absolutely necessary, at the same time, to put an end to underground tests. Concrete and effective proposals in this sense have been submitted by the Soviet Union. The adoption of those proposals would make it possible to halt the nuclear arms race immediately while an agreement on the discontinuance of underground tests was being negotiated. 88. In these circumstances, we are surprised to see that certain non-aligned Powers, which are well acquainted with the precise positions of the parties on the question of the discontinuance of nuclear tests, put the attitudes of the Soviet Union and of the Western nuclear Powers regarding the Eight-Power Joint Memorandum on an equal footing. 89. We would like to stress once more that the Soviet Union has accepted this Memorandum as a basis of negotiation, without making any attempt to interpret it, whereas the Western Powers have stated that they accept it as only one of the bases of negotiation, and then only on condition that compulsory on-site inspection is agreed to. It would be useful to keep the respective attitudes of the parties in mind when discussing the question of the discontinuance of tests. We are certain that, on the basis of the eight-Power Joint Memorandum and the new Soviet proposals, an agreement could be reached for the immediate discontinuance of nuclear tests until such time as a treaty providing for the definitive prohibition of all tests was concluded. 90. The question of the condemnation of propaganda favouring preventive nuclear war, which was raised by the Soviet Union [see A/5232], also falls within the general framework of disarmament. A campaign for the psychological conditioning of public opinion so that it might accept a nuclear preventive war as a necessity and an inevitable prospect is being carried on, and it is to oppose this constant and unremitting propaganda for the most destructive war the world has ever imagined that the Soviet proposal has been put forward. We hope, and are sure, that it will be favourably received by the great majority of delegations at this session. 91. It would seem that the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples [resolution 1514 (XV)], which was unanimously adopted by the General Assembly two years ago, has not prevented the colonial Powers from continuing to keep numerous territories and tens of millions of human beings under their sway, or from doing all they can to re-establish their domination in new forms. Some representatives of the colonial Powers are now trying to represent themselves in their statements as benefactors and liberators of the colonial peoples. This shows that, far from disowning their colonialist past, these Powers are trying to exploit the difficulties created by their colonial domination in the countries which have gained their independence, so as to continue their former colonial domination in a new guise. 92. The delegation of the People's Republic of Bulgaria considers that this seventeenth session of the General Assembly should take effective and energetic steps to ensure that the declaration on the elimination of the colonial system may be applied to all countries and peoples still under the colonial yoke. The idea put forward by the delegation of the Republic of Guinea [1131st meeting, para. 53], namely, that the date of the anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter, 24 October 1963, should be designated as the time-limit for the final elimination of all colonial domination, is worthy of particular attention. Such a decision might oblige the colonial Powers to loosen their grasp and give way to the pressure of world opinion. 93. A question which is particularly vital to the effective functioning of the United Nations is without doubt that of the restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations, for there is not a single international problem which can be finally solved without the participation of the People's Republic of China. Neither the problem of disarmament, nor that of the discontinuance of nuclear tests, nor, above all, the problems of safeguarding peace in Asia and in the world in general can be solved without the participation of the People's Republic of China. It is therefore high time to remove from all the agencies of the United Nations those who are at present occupying China's place, and to restore the lawful rights of the great Chinese people by inviting the Government of the People's Republic of China to send a delegation to the United Nations. 94. With regard to the effective functioning of the United Nations, there is another question which, although not on the agenda, is. of particular importance to our Organization, namely, the adaptation of the principal United Nations organs to the present world situation. Now, more than ever, must the organs responsible for the administration of the United Nations be made to function efficiently in the light of present-day needs and realities. It is futile for anyone to think that it is possible any longer to influence, through trickery and against the will of the other Powers, the manner in which decisions on certain problems are carried out so as to favour in practice only one of the parties concerned. 95. It is inconceivable that the United Nations can be made to function effectively unless it represents the three groups of Powers existing in the world of today. Efforts have been made by the United Nations to promote economic development, but in the last few years economic difficulties — particularly those of the developing countries — have been increasing rather than diminishing. As the representative of Brazil, Senator de Melo Franco, has stated; "the value of the external aid granted to our continent ... has been far less than the loss suffered through falling prices for its products on the international market" [1125th meeting, para. 31]. 96. Economic difficulties have increased as a result of the setting up of restricted and closed economic groupings such as the European Common Market, which is used for the purpose of speeding up the arms race and adapting the economies of the member countries to the military objectives of NATO. At the same time, this economic grouping is striving, by means of various restrictions, to preserve the old economic and military structures in the States recently freed from the colonial yoke and to fetter these States to itself as sources of raw materials and agricultural products. Such restricted associations are harmful and dangerous both to the normal development of international trade and to the development of the national economies of the under-developed countries. 97. In these circumstances, the only reasonable and prudent course is to support the proposals submitted by the Soviet Union — the first for an economic programme for disarmament providing for the diversion of part of the resources made available by disarmament to the economic development of countries [A/5233], and the second for the convening of an international conference on trade problems in 1963 [A/5219], We are sure that these two proposals will be enthusiastically welcomed by delegations. 98. Our indomitable opposition to restricted and closed groupings set up with the aim of hindering the normal course of relations between countries is matched by our will to provide for and promote arrangements between neighbouring countries or countries in the same area as an aid to solving important international problems, strengthening peace and promoting international co-operation. Contrary to the opinion expressed by certain delegations which have defended closed economic associations and are opposed to regional arrangements for the solution of international problems such as disarmament, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, which pursues a policy of peaceful co-existence and friendship among all countries without regard to political systems, is firmly convinced that open regional arrangements between neighbouring countries Could make an effective contribution to the easing of international tension and the establishment of mutual confidence. This is the reason, moreover, why our country voted last year for the resolution providing for the consideration of Africa as a denuclearized zone [General Assembly resolution 1652 (XVI)]. 99. Faithful to this policy of peaceful co-existence and co-operation between all States, the People's Republic of Bulgaria let it be known at the fifteenth session of the General Assembly, through Mr. Todor Zhivkov, the head of the Bulgarian delegation and First Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, that: "Our Government has always manifested and will continue to manifest its readiness to discuss and support any proposal, wherever it may come from, as long as it is in the interests of the general development of the Balkans along the path of understanding, ... co-operation and peace." [875th meeting, para. 92.] Mr. Zhivkov went on to say: "On many occasions, our Government has proposed detailed and concrete measures which would help to improve relations among the Balkan States. We have proposed, for example, that we should sign a nonaggression pact among the Balkan States; reach an agreement for a decisive reduction of the armed forces of the Balkan States to the level sufficient for frontier guard duty; transform the Balkans into the area in which the idea for a general and complete disarmament would first find its application ..." [Ibid., para. 93]. It is in this spirit of co-operation and understanding that the People's Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Government intend to collaborate both in the Balkan area and in international institutions, and are ready to contribute, as much as their modest resources allow, to the settlement of the questions of the moment.