I wish to extend to the President my heartfelt congratulations on his election as President of the General Assembly. We are very happy indeed to see him as the first African representative to preside over this world assembly of nations. His election is an impressive recognition of his outstanding personality as well as of the rapidly growing importance to our Organization of the new African nations.
84. Over the last couple of years Africa ha s been the focus of world affairs. Most of Africa's peoples have attained independence within a shorter period of time than even foresighted men would have dared to predict only ten years age. We welcome and support this truly progressive course of events.
85. A large share of the credit for the achievements made in Africa goes to the work of the United Nations. It has once been said that the United Nations is the
shield of the small nations, the peaceful forum for embattling great Powers, and the conscience of mankind, The new African nations must take great stakes in the continued strength of the United Nations.
86. On our agenda are important problems relating to Africa. Tragedy came to the United Nations last week in Dag Hammarskjold's last attempt to solve the problems of independence and integration of the Congolese people. The Danish Government has noted with satisfaction the reconvening of the Congolese Parliament and the establishment of a central Government backed by wide segments of the Congolese people. May the endeavours of our late Secretary-General to foster a united Congo under a central Government be continued and crowned with success.
87. It is a cause of regret that the Government of the Republic of South Africa, by maintaining and expanding its policy of apartheid, has isolated itself from a universal trend. History shows that privileges of a small minority cannot in the long run be upheld. With regard to the mandated territory of South West Africa, the Government of South Africa has a direct responsibility to the United Nations for its administration. We deplore its refusal to co-operate with the United Naiions, more particularly with the South West Africa Committee, which was denied access to the mandated territory during its recent journey to Africa.
88. Among the African problems the situation in Angola also gives rise to grave concern. Here again it seems to us that reforms based on the letter and. spirit of the United Nations Charter would be in accordance with our common ideals, and also in the true interest of the parties concerned.
89. The tense situation in Berlin has been in the foreground of our minds for months. We have lived through moments of fear that miscalculation or a mistake about the intentions of the other party could mean disaster. Fortunately, there are now signs that the way is opening up for new negotiations among the Powers directly responsible.
90. We share the belief, expressed here by the President of the United States, Mr. Kennedy, that no peaceful agreement is possible which protects the freedom of West Berlin and allied presence and access, while recognizing the historic and legitimate interests of others in assuring European security" [1013th plenary meeting].
31. If negotiations between the four Powers are successful, we would welcome arrangements placing the resulting agreement under the auspices of the United Nations. Thought should also be given to the possibility of moving the seat of one of the United Nations bodies to Berlin. It might have useful psychological effects if the world Organization were present in Berlin, sharing the same atmosphere as its citizens, and if Berlin, instead of being a point of tension, could become a centre of constructive international co-operation.
92, In the years since the Second World War nothing has preoccupied the peoples of the world more than the efforts to abolish war. And more than ever are the peoples of our burdened globe today looking to this Assembly in the hope that it may succeed in making a significant contribution towards disarmament.
93. After a deadlock of more than one year in the disarmament negotiations, new possibilities seem to emerge.
94. We welcome the "Joint Statement of Agreed Principles for Disarmament Negotiations" [A/4879] which was issued on 20 September 1961 by the Permanent Representatives of the United States and the Soviet Union to the United Nations. This statement expresses agreement, in principle, on the necessary elements for realistic disarmament, including the establishment of a United Nations Peace Force.
95. The new proposal made by President Kennedy on Monday to resume promptly disarmament negotiations and to continue without interruption until an entire programme for complete and general disarmament has been achieved, is a further, and highly important, step. It is true that the time is more than ripe for going beyond agreement in principle to reach agreement on actual plans.
96. Against the background of the joint statement and of President Kennedy's new, constructive disarmament programme, I see a glimpse of hope for the resumption of comprehensive talks.
97. My Government feels strongly that it is an overriding responsibility of this Assembly to bridge the gap on views as to how disarmament negotiations should be implemented.
98. The main reason why negotiations on disarmament have so far been unsuccessful is fear that, while progressing from one stage of disarmament to the next stage, we would run the risk of upsetting the balance of power which is the actual upholder of peace in the present-day world, II; should be possible, however, to devise a disarmament plan whereby both parties feel convinced that transition from one stage of disarmament to the next would cause no shift in the balance of power. That would require detailed preparations on the expert level. It should be left to experts to give detailed and controllable directions as to how the balance of power can be maintained throughout the period of disarmament. The Danish Government feels that such expert assistance might make disarmament negotiations, if resumed, more realistic than they have been hitherto.
99. As long as agreement on a comprehensive disarmament plan has not been achieved among the most important military Powers, the smaller States have a responsibility of their own to consider in what way they might promote the common cause. During the fifteenth General Assembly Denmark declared itself ready to consider opening the territory of Greenland for inspection as part of a multilaterally balanced inspection arrangement. This offer still stands. We feel that an international team carrying out inspection of limited areas on a reciprocal basis would have favourable opportunities of gaining practical experience which would be of value in the planning of a more comprehensive inspection system. And let me add in this connexion that Denmark would be ready, within the range of our possibilities, to make available technical, scientific and military equipment and personnel for the implementation of any programme that may be mutually accepted as a suitable partial disarmament measure.
100. I wish to conclude my remarks on disarmament with a few observations on the question of the testing of nuclear weapons.
101. When we met here a year ago, it was in the earnest hope that the Geneva talks about discontinuance of nuclear tests would result in a treaty signifying .the first step toward relaxation of international tensions and thus prepare the soil for further
disarmament measures. The Geneva talks went on for almost four years, and detailed and painstaking negotiations had brought about such a measure of agreement among the three major Powers that the failure to reach complete agreement on a test ban is hard to understand.
102. With deep concern and regret we have in the past few weeks witnessed the resumption by the Soviet Union of nuclear tests in the atmosphere, which in turn has led the United States to take up underground tests.
103. The immediate result of the resumption of tests in the atmosphere of the earth has been a sharp increase in radioactive fall-out in wide areas of the globe. We do not yet know enough to measure the danger which the increase in radioactive fall-out presents to humanity.
104. We are facing an unknown risk to human life and well being, and further nuclear tests in the atmosphere are bound to increase this danger.
105. In line with the appeal of the Nordic Foreign Ministers at their meeting in Copenhagen in early September, my Government urges all the nuclear Powers of East and West to come to an early agreement on the halting of tests of nuclear weapons. This Assembly will, I am confident, see it as a mandatory task to work for the attainment of this objective.
106. My Government has noted with satisfaction that the question of China's representation has been placed on our agenda this year.
107. At the meeting the Nordic Foreign Ministers unanimously emphasized the desirability of reaching a solution on the question of tb.3 representation of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations. I believe that the admission of the Beijing Government may open up new possibilities of contacts and negotiations. No system of disarmament will be viable or of any great political long-term value if the Government of the People's Republic of China is not drawn into the work of the United Nations and committed, like all the rest of us, to the principles of the Charter.
108. Now I turn to economic problems and in particular to the question of how to assist the less developed nations.
109. For several years the Danish people and Government have shown the greatest interest in the question of assisting the less developed countries through the United Nations. In fact, my Government is being urged to augment further its contribution by an ever increasing number of Danish institutions and private individuals as well as by political parties in and out of Government. Denmark has from the very beginning participated in the constructive work of the existing organizations providing capital assistance such as the International Bank and the International Development Association.
110. Last year we were co-sponsor of a resolution urging that contributions to the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and the United Nations Special Fund be increased to a total of $150 million. The normal Danish share of this amount would be a little short of $1 million. I hope that at the forthcoming Pledging Conference my Government will be able to pledge three times that amount.
111. We realize, however, and understand full well that the aspirations of the developing countries are to
see established — in addition to the existing organizations — a United Nations Capital Development Fund — as adumbrated in resolution 1521 (XV). We hope that an agreement for intergovernmental control and for voting likely to inspire the confidence of all participants in such a Fund can be reached. On this basis it will, in accordance with the existing statutes of the United Nations Special Fund, be possible to change its terms of reference so as to broaden its activity to allow capital investment in infrastructure. In this way there will — without creating new machinery — come into existence a United Nations Capital Development Fund, and the most articulate and persistent wish of all developing countries will thus be met. In case such a solution meets with general approval, Denmark will consider an even further increase in its contributions to the United Nations Special Fund.
112. I am convinced that the developing countries realize that economic as well as political independence can only be achieved as a result of their own efforts.
113. Only effective national planning, based on full knowledge of all relevant facts, can establish the optimum balance between a growing population on one hand, and on the other, a corresponding, or preferably even more rapidly growing, economic capacity. If this balance fails, all our endeavours will have been in vain, in so far as we did not achieve the improvement of living conditions which we jointly tried to provide for.
114. More essential than aid is trade. It is our belief that regional trade co-operation, based on liberal and outward looking principles, further global expansion of trade and, in consequence, the new countries' sale of raw materials as well as industrial goods. Intentional endeavours in this direction should be a characteristic
feature of the new market associations.
115. It is in our common interest to ensure that neither the European Economic Community nor the new Organisation of Economic Co-operation and development [OECD] becomes a closed club of the rich and highly industrialized countries, but that they, on the contrary, become active instruments of a far-sighted and open global policy allowing trade and prosperity to grow in all parts of the world. In the same spirit we/ Welcome such regional arrangements as are beginning to take form in the Americas, Africa and Asia.
116. The loss of Dag Hammarskjold has precipitated a problem that would otherwise not have cspme up for solution until late 1962, namely the election of his successor.
117. The natural thing to do for a strong and united world Organization would have been that the Security Council, without delay, performed its function under Article 97 of the Charter by proposing a new Secretary-General to be appointed by the Assembly.
118. When last the United Nations changed Secretary-Generals, rather a long time elapsed — half a year or more — before agreement was reached on Dag Hammarskjold as Trygve Lie's successor. We all know that today it would be even more difficult and, for a variety of reasons, probably will require still more time, to obtain Security Council clearance.
119. The United Nations is today besieged by serious problems the solution of which cannot suffer delay without the risk of jeopardizing progress already made in the interest of peace. It is vital, therefore, that a decision be taken as a matter of great urgency to provide the Organization with an executive head pending action by the Council in fulfilment of its duty as envisaged by the Charter.
120. The unperturbed functioning of the Secretariat is indispensable to our work. We must see to it that we continue to keep its machinery in good order. The need for administrative efficiency is, in my view, a decisive consideration. The Government of Denmark urges that an agreement on this vital issue be reached as expeditiously as possible.
121. As my colleague, the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Lord Home, so clearly and convincingly argued in his remarkable speech yesterday, there can be no doubt that it would seriously endanger the viability and effectiveness of this young world Organization if the so-called "troika" system were accepted in> the form suggested by the Soviet Union.
122. The application of this principle would have a disastrous effect on our hopes and expectations in the United Nations as an effective tool for the preservation of peace and betterment of conditions of living for all regardless of differing ideologies and political groupings.
123. I hope that this General Assembly will very soon be able to solve this problem which may become most decisive for the future existence and possibilities of the United Nations.
124. May I avail myself of this opportunity to add a few words on a special occasion. Yesterday we unanimously adopted a new African Member State, Sierra Leone. On behalf of the following countries — Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, /Spain, Sweden and my own country, Denmark — it is my privilege to extend a most heartfelt welcome to the Government and people of our new Member State, Sierra Leone, which has justly taken its seat as Member State number one hundred.
125. It seems to me a happy omen that the United Nations is thus progressing towards our goal of complete universality.