Italy

I warmly congratulate Minister Udovenko on his election to the helm of the fifty-second session of the General Assembly. His profound experience in international affairs is the best guarantee for the success of his mandate. Allow me also to thank his predecessor, Ambassador Razali Ismail, who led the fifty- first session of the General Assembly with great distinction. On all the broad issues confronting the General Assembly, Italy supports the statement made on Tuesday by the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg on behalf of the European Union. Today we have a historic opportunity to connect principles and reality, give life to our ideals and shape this Organization for decades to come. The ideologies that divided humankind in this century have crumbled. Meanwhile, the system engineered with such foresight by the founding Members amidst the horrors of the most devastating war the world has ever seen has maintained and increased its significance. We no longer live in a world of purely national interests. More and more, policy-making is informed by global concerns such as human rights, solidarity and social justice. At the threshold of the twenty-first century, let us pledge to settle religious and ethnic conflicts through dialogue, tolerance and cultural exchange, and to find collective answers to international terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking and the degradation of the environment. We can join forces to eradicate poverty, which is a major cause of social injustice and political turmoil in the world, and guarantee dignity, respect and better living standards for every human being. The goals of a new world order, founded on mutual trust and the rejection of the threat and use of force, are peace, security, sustainable development and respect for the fundamental freedoms of the individual. But these values cannot be dictated by an elite group of States. The future of humankind is the responsibility of the international community as a whole. As the United Nations prepares to meet the challenges of the third millennium, the General Assembly has a role of paramount importance to play. 15 At the opening of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly there was unanimous consensus on the need for a far-reaching reform of the United Nations system. In my address I stated that if the United Nations was to respond effectively to the growing concerns that had emerged, reform could no longer be postponed. The international community requires higher standards of security, development and democracy, and it needs them now. On that occasion, I listed 10 specific proposals to make United Nations peacekeeping operations more effective, and I am glad to see that progress has been made on some of them. Procedures for periodic meetings between the Security Council and troop-contributing countries have been consolidated. To help the Organization respond to crises where and when they arise, Italy recently became the sixth country to formalize its participation in standby arrangements for United Nations peacekeeping operations. President Clinton said in his speech on Monday that the first task of the United Nations must remain the pursuit of peace and security. When a situation of serious instability developed in Albania last March, the Security Council — with the full support of the Secretary- General — acted promptly, authorizing a coalition of the countries, led by Italy, willing to form a Multinational Protection Force. During the four months of its mandate, Operation Alba enabled the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance, created a secure environment for the missions of international organizations, and made democratic elections possible. In short, it helped put the country back on its feet. One of the keys to its success was an innovative approach to peacekeeping, involving the rapid planning and deployment of the Force, and close coordination among the participating countries and the host country, under the constant monitoring of the United Nations. To consolidate the gains that have been made and lay the foundations for Albania's growth and prosperity, the next step is to rehabilitate the State institutions and economy. With this in mind, the Italian Government has convened a ministerial conference for October, in Rome, with the participation of the Albanian Government and all the relevant international organizations to assess needs and decide on a common course of action. For over half a century, the United Nations has been seeking to establish a permanent international criminal court to prosecute and punish genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, wherever and by whomever they are committed. This is a test of our collective responsibility, made even more pressing by the terrible massacres that have characterized recent ethnic conflicts, and Italy confirms its strong support, pledges its active contribution to this endeavour, and is prepared to host in Rome the diplomatic conference to adopt the statute for the international criminal court. A second major challenge is arms control. Before dealing with the security requirements of tomorrow, we must stop living by the fears of yesterday. New standards of security can be produced only through international cooperation under the leadership of the United Nations. Italy has some of the world's strictest and most advanced legislation on the export of arms. I am proud to report that this past June the Italian Government unilaterally decided to renounce the production, export, stockpiling and use of anti-personnel landmines, and enabling legislation to this effect has already been passed by one branch of our Parliament. But the full value of this commitment can only be realized if it is shared by all countries, whether or not they are parties to the Ottawa process. The recent Oslo conference, to be sure, made remarkable accomplishments, but they are not yet universal. To achieve this goal, our efforts should be complemented by the continuing involvement of the Conference on Disarmament. Two months ago, Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented a package of ground-breaking proposals to improve the effectiveness of the Organization and enhance its ability to meet the new challenges. Those proposals deserve our full support. One important goal of the Secretary General's reform plan is to energize the strategic direction provided by the General Assembly. To this end, we need to streamline the agenda and identify priorities for consideration in the short- and medium-term. Since the time available for plenary debates is limited, we should focus on matters of general interest. The reform of the Organization is a question of the highest priority for the current session of the General Assembly, as the Secretary-General himself has underlined. In the coming months, two other major subjects also command our attention: the financial situation of the Organization, and the structure and composition of the Security Council. To function properly, the Organization has to be able to rely on adequate resources. Assessed contributions must be paid in full, on time and without conditions by 16 Member States. Italy, for its part, has always complied with this fundamental rule. Nevertheless, we believe that the time has come to agree on a realistic new scale of assessments, based on Member States' capacity to pay and making the Organization less dependent on the contributions of a single country. However, let there be no confusion about our support for a review of the scale of assessments. There can be absolutely no link between Members' contributions and Security Council reform, lest the impression be created that permanent seats are up for sale. This brings me to the reform of the Security Council. There is broad agreement that reform is needed to bring the Council more in line with the new realities of the world in which we live. The reform must be inspired by the principles of democracy, equitable geographical representation and transparency. These are the very principles guiding the proposal presented by Italy. While we are prepared to look constructively at other proposals, we must guard against those advocating a system that would divide Member States into four categories: first-class countries — the five current permanent members of the Security Council, with veto power; second-class countries — the new permanent members from industrialized nations, without veto power; third-class countries — “pseudo-permanent” rotating members, without veto power, from developing nations in different regions; and fourth-class countries — the overwhelming majority of United Nations Member States, with fewer chances than ever of serving on the Security Council. Such stratification of membership, reminiscent of the caste system in ancient empires, would defy the fundamental principles of logic and democracy, and marginalize some of the countries most active in the Organization. How could any of us accept relegation to the last of these categories and go back to our people and Parliaments and tell them that we actually voted in favour of our country's demotion to fourth-class status? Let me stress that this type of problem would not be generated by the Italian proposal, which calls for an increase only in non-permanent members, to be democratically elected by the General Assembly. Another aspect of reform is the question of the veto. This cannot and should not be discussed independently of the issue of enlarging the Council. The two issues are inseparable. Indeed, every aspect of Security Council reform should be addressed at the same time and in the same context. Before determining the future size of the Council and the names of new members, we must define the criteria that should govern the reform. Ad hoc approaches will not work. Ultimately, no solution can be adopted unless there is broad consensus. And a lasting and equitable outcome cannot be reached through hasty and partial solutions. Forcing the issue would deepen divisions and jeopardize the larger and more urgent question before the General Assembly: approving the Secretary-General's reform package. In a longer-term perspective, I would like to add that a fact-finding inquiry recently conducted by the Italian Parliament envisaged a permanent seat on the Security Council for the European Union, as a natural evolution of its common foreign and security policy. Almost 55 years ago, on November 13 1942, President Roosevelt said that the future of the United Nations association “should not be restricted to the 28 signatories of the Atlantic Charter, but should be one which all nations could join.” President Roosevelt believed that the purpose of the United Nations should not be the defence of the status quo and that its strength did not lie in sheer numbers, but in the way that Member States engaged in collective deliberations and action. This vision should guide our pursuit of a more promising future for all the people of this world. History will not be lenient with us if we fail.