Latvia

Allow me to congratulate Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral on his election as President of the General Assembly. I wish all of us a productive and fruitful session. I also wish to thank His Excellency Mr. Amara Essy, President of the Assembly at its forty-ninth session, for his able leadership, and to give due recognition to the Secretary-General for his achievements in restructuring the United Nations on the eve of its golden anniversary — an occasion for remembrance and celebration, but also a time for reflection and appraisal. The Baltic States have participated in the work of the United Nations only since 1991. Nevertheless, during the long years of occupation the United Nations was perceived in Latvia as a unique global international Organization embodying humanity’s ideas about freedom, human rights, sovereign equality and respect for the principles of international law. I shall not join in detracting and criticizing the United Nations, for it is not an entity existing on its own. 12 General Assembly 21st plenary meeting Rather, the effectiveness of the Organization is a function of the political will of its Member States and their resolve to find common ground. In criticizing the United Nations, we should keep in mind the amount of criticism that must be directed against ourselves. It is to be hoped that the end of the cold war has put an end to balance-of-power politics. Still, the situation in the world today evokes historical analogies — about collective security, aggressors and their appeasement. A generation of Latvians still alive remembers the results of appeasement in 1939. It is often stated that today’s leaders must try not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The notion that they have succeeded is belied by the recent establishment of international ad hoc tribunals regarding the territory of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and by the pressing need for an international criminal court. Conflict-prevention mechanisms, including preventive diplomacy and preventive deployment, as well as other confidence-building measures, have become increasingly important. The establishment of political dialogue between parties and early action by the international community are a key to heading off potential conflicts. The status of the United Nations as a centre for conflict resolution may be enhanced by promoting the universality of the Organization. We support the statement of the Secretary-General that the process of arms control and disarmament needs to be globalized and that it is vital that all States be engaged in the disarmament process in practice as well as in declared intent. Latvia supported the unconditional and indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We hope that another historic step will be taken next year with the conclusion of a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty. The dramatic rise in the number and complexity of peace-keeping operations in recent years, as well as the distinctive nature and experience of each operation, requires new approaches to peace-keeping. Humanitarian assistance, human rights and economic and political questions are now integral components of peace-keeping. Experience shows that it is necessary to detach peace-keeping from enforcement action. In Somalia, as well as in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, peace-keepers have been perceived as enemies. In such cases the most suitable solution is for the United Nations to grant clearly defined authority to international organizations or groups of States that have the desire and the capacity to establish peace. Recognizing that each State has a duty to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security, Latvia is ready to participate, within the Danish battalion, in bringing peace to the territory of the former Yugoslavia. For the purposes of peace-keeping, the Baltic States have established a Baltic battalion (BALTBAT), which is currently undergoing intensive training in preparation for a future role in peace-keeping missions. I take this opportunity to thank all countries that have supported the establishment and training of BALTBAT — in particular, the United States, the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom and Germany. Latvia strongly supports efforts to strengthen and reform the United Nations system so that it may better serve the peoples of the Earth. It recognizes that it is still too early to clearly perceive the shape of the post-cold- war world, which must be the final determinant of the nature of the necessary reforms. In these circumstances there is a need to view reforms of the United Nations system as a long-term, ongoing process that must protect the stability of the United Nations system at all times. At the same time, there is an opportunity for progress in regard to reforms which can be made without making permanent commitments to new fundamental system structures and procedures. In the light of these general considerations, I should now like to address Security Council reforms and United Nations system financing issues. The operation of the Security Council must continue to become more transparent and open, while preserving the Council’s effectiveness. Its expansion must strengthen the role played by small countries in global decision-making, while respecting equitable geographic distribution and the new geopolitical realities of the post-cold-war era. Since there is general agreement about the need for a modest expansion of the Security Council, the General Assembly could immediately decide to carry it out, if the decision would not force Member States to make permanent commitments on the two controversial issues — the composition of the Council and the use of the veto. Latvia intends to make proposals in this regard to the relevant Working Group of the General Assembly. The current system of financing the activities of the United Nations depends largely on assessed and voluntary 13 General Assembly 21st plenary meeting contributions of Member States. The unprecedented difficulties of financing the recent growth in international activities have exposed the limitations of the current system, in which international activities have to compete for funds against national activities that have stronger constituencies. A recent report, commissioned by the Independent Commission for Population and Quality of Life, on innovative financing mechanisms for internationally agreed programmes, has made a number of recommendations to study and compile information relevant to such mechanisms. Latvia would support a decision by the General Assembly at this fiftieth session to prepare a compilation of information relevant to, and appropriate studies of, innovative financing mechanisms. Innovative financing mechanisms are a matter for the future. Even then, they should not supplant the current system, which, however, needs to be improved. Governments have a long-range interest in strengthening the United Nations by completing the reform of the current, highly inequitable scale of assessments for the regular budget. The reformed scale must obey the equitable principle that Member States with equal average per capita incomes should bear assessments that are broadly at the same per capita level. The current inequitable scale is one cause of the current financial crisis of the United Nations, in that the over-assessed States are responsible for relatively high amounts of outstanding contributions, including arrears from preceding years. This observation is illustrated by the case of the 15 Member States, including Latvia, that were over-assessed by a General Assembly decision, adopted by vote, in 1992. A second decision in 1994 improved the situation somewhat, by initiating a gradual decline in the excessive assessment, which in 1997 will still be two times higher than the assessment based on the principle of capacity- to-pay. While Latvia recognizes and tries to discharge its obligation, derived from the principle of sovereign equality, to pay in full and on time, it also believes that a second component of the principle of sovereign equality — the equal rights of all Member States — is not respected by the present assessment. The resulting over-assessment is a reason that has led, in spite of Latvia’s best efforts under difficult financial conditions and in the face of many pressing social, economic and humanitarian needs, to a build-up of arrears which now threaten the application of Article 19 of the Charter, beginning January 1996. It will force Latvia to seek relief from the General Assembly. In discussing the work of the United Nations in the economic and social sphere, it is useful to do so from the perspective of the individual. Is he or she secure? Has he or she enough food? Does he or she have adequate living conditions and opportunities for developing his or her potential? In the world today, enormous differences in levels of development persist among countries. The United Nations has accomplished a great deal in its work to eradicate poverty and disease and to provide humanitarian relief. It would be possible to further improve this work by improving coordination between relief agencies and programmes and by eliminating redundancies. Relief must address needs; the United Nations has a significant role to play in needs assessment. In the past Member States of the United Nations have met in a number of global forums to highlight the issues surrounding people-centred development. World conferences in Rio de Janeiro, Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen and, most recently, Beijing have drafted platforms for action. Such large gatherings are sometimes criticized as being expensive and resulting in few tangible outputs. Such criticism could be avoided if Member States were to implement their commitments fully. However implementation is greatly constrained by the financial realities of each State. Nevertheless, Latvia has implemented a recommendation of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights by establishing a national Human Rights Office, which commenced operations earlier this year. The Latvian Human Rights Office is an independent institution for the protection and promotion of human rights. The international community has agreed that human rights are inviolable and are the cornerstone of democratic societies. We intend to continue to implement the recommendations of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and urge other States to do the same. Further, we believe that the question of the adequate financing of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights must be resolved. The environment is an area that, along with human rights, demands Latvia’s attention during the present 14 General Assembly 21st plenary meeting period of remedying the many consequences of Latvia’s occupation. In this connection, Latvia is making efforts to hold an international conference on disarmament and its relationship to environment and development. Latvia’s development, particularly in the social sector, has been greatly assisted by the work of the Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), established in Riga in 1992. The Government of Latvia fully cooperates with and supports the work of UNDP, and is ready to increase the level of this cooperation. Latvia attaches high priority to the economic and social work of the United Nations and understands the obligation of each Member State to contribute to this work. We value and support the efforts to reform the Economic and Social Council and, in the spirit of sustaining and furthering its work, have presented our candidature for membership in the Economic and Social Council for the period 1997-1999. In pondering the future of the United Nations during its fiftieth anniversary, allow me to quote Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., a former United States representative to the United Nations: “This Organization is created to prevent you from going to hell. It isn’t created to take you to heaven.” Let us remember these words as we look to the future of the United Nations. Let us make the necessary changes to our Organization and, moreover, concentrate our political will so that we may ensure that humanity will always remain firmly anchored between heaven and hell, on the planet Earth.