Belarus

To begin, I would sincerely like to congratulate you on your election to this very important and difficult position as President of the Assembly and I wish you every success. This year, the United Nations has come close to the most dangerous brink in its more than a half- century of history. This is not only and not so much the Iraqi crisis per se. That crisis has become but a manifestation of what has really threatened the entire system of world order created after World War II. The basis of this world order is the unconditional primacy of international law over the aspirations of individual States. Take that away, and the world will again, as in centuries past, become hostage to the power of the mighty. This will not merely throw us backward. The beginning of the twenty-first century differs from past decades and centuries in that the existence of a single global super-Power will make the rule of the mighty global in both scale and consequence. “We all have to recognize — no matter how great our strength — that we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please. ... Unless we are all willing to pay that price, no organization for world peace can accomplish its purpose”. These words, spoken by United States President Harry Truman, are as urgent today as they were back in 1945. We call upon everyone to be guided by them today as they were when our Organization was being set up. Belarus’ contribution to the creation of the United Nations and a new system of international security was one-third of our population, who gave their lives for the victory of peace over war and the victory of the coalition of the future over the coalition of the past. That is exactly why we in Belarus today sense with special urgency the danger of the erosion of a just and stable world order. Let us preserve the coalition of the entire world for global peace. Let us not allow the Security Council, as the main body for maintaining peace and security, to be replaced by “coalitions of the willing” that use force without Council authorization. Let us not forget that only a just peace can prove to be a stable peace. Belarus welcomes the emerging effort to return to the United Nations its legitimate role in settling the Iraq issue. This reflects the recognition that a military force or an occupying force cannot solve the problem of nation-building. We hope that this will also become recognition of the fact that a preventive war makes a poor foundation for security. We hope that a new Security Council resolution on Iraq being worked out now will strengthen the central role of the United Nations in the earliest and urgent return to the people of Iraq of its sovereignty, its right to independently determine its political future and its right to natural resources, so that constitutional processes and later election processes can be implemented by Iraqis in the interest of Iraqis. At the same time, Belarus is worried by the pattern that is dangerous both for the future of the United Nations and for international peace and is taking shape on the most urgent issues: the Security Council and the United Nations are ignored when 9 unauthorized military action is taken, and are then invited back only in the aftermath, when their authority, experience and resources are seen as essential for rebuilding a peaceful life. That is what happened in Kosovo and what is happening in Iraq today. Belarus believes in the United Nations. We believe that it has a central role to play in the most urgent issues of today and that it cannot be replaced. We believe in the constant values and justice of the supremacy of international law and the fundamental principles of its Charter. New global challenges and threats merely reaffirm that these values are indispensable. As a founding Member of the United Nations, Belarus sees the need to modernize and adapt the United Nations mechanisms and structures to the realities of this new century. Of special importance is the reform of the United Nations Security Council. As has been correctly noted by the Secretary-General, it is not only a question of enlarging the Council’s membership. Life itself has put on the agenda of the reform process many other aspects, including the Council’s capacity to react to threats to peace and security. It is essential to achieve a reasonable balance in the interrelationship between the main United Nations bodies, inherent in its Charter. A stronger role of the General Assembly is an important direction for increasing the Organization’s efficiency. The potential of the presidency of the General Assembly is underused. As an officer elected by the entire United Nations, the President of the General Assembly can and should be called upon to serve as a catalyst and organizer in searching for solutions to the problems the world and the Organization are facing. It is necessary to reform and improve the activities of the Economic and Social Council as the coordinator of United Nations efforts in economic, social and related areas. Having accumulated considerable experience working in the Bureau of the Council, the Republic of Belarus is ready to make a constructive contribution to these efforts. Those were exactly the considerations that guided Belarus when it proposed its candidature to Council membership for 2004-2006. The United Nations should pay priority attention to developing international law: new realities in international politics as well as new universal world problems have to be taken into consideration. Belarus is a party to all key multilateral treaties regulating various spheres of international life. This year we have acceded to a further number of such treaties, including the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols. The international fight against terrorism that unfolded after the tragic events of 11 September 2001 rightly placed the United Nations in the centre of antiterrorist efforts. The work of the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee has helped in the forming of a global coalition under the aegis of the United Nations to counter terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We must, however, be realistic: force alone can never eradicate the abominable phenomenon of terrorism, at least, not forever. Injustice, inequality and indifference will bring it forth again and again, just like the accumulation of electricity in the atmosphere produces a lightning bolt. The Secretary-General is right when he states that in order to maintain a genuinely global coalition for fighting terrorism the world must also see progress on other fronts of the struggle for a humane and just world order. Herein lies an important challenge for the United Nations, for permanent members of the Security Council and for all Members of the Organization. The principal contribution of Belarus to the non- proliferation of nuclear weapons and to conventional disarmament has been universally recognized. Our concern is therefore all the greater with regard to the gradual erosion of multilateral norms in disarmament and the stagnation of the international bodies, above all the negotiation mechanisms, in charge of international security and disarmament. From this rostrum, we join in the appeal not to allow the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This is a most important task. It should be noted, that for many years, Belarus has initiated efforts to prevent the development of new types of such weapons. However, has everything possible been done in recent years, including by the most militarily powerful States, to strengthen the multilateral non-proliferation regime in all its most important aspects? Is everything being done to that end today? An appropriate answer to that 10 question would be the ratification by all permanent members of the Security Council of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The activities of multilateral bodies in the area of disarmament should be adapted to new realities. We proceed from the assumption that the United Nations should draw up a clear-cut list of priority directions in ensuring international security and generate programmes to overcome real threats to mankind. The resolutions we adopt should contain clear directives to existing forums and structures in the areas of international security, arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament. Only with this approach will we be able to stop the devaluation of such notions as peace, security and stability. I wish to inform delegations that Belarus has recently taken another responsible step to strengthen these values. While possessing the world’s seventh largest arsenal of anti-personnel landmines, the Republic of Belarus has joined the Ottawa Convention on their prohibition. We count on international assistance in their elimination. The norms of international law play a principled role in shaping a just international economic order. The objective of providing equal access to world markets and to the benefits of the process of globalization for all States, particularly developing countries and countries with economies in transition, has unfortunately not been achieved. That is why we urge Member States to pay unabated attention to the process of developing the norms and rules of international trade and commercial activities in the interests of common well-being. After the recent failure of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Cancún, the leading economic Powers should understand the risks of delaying the negotiations within the WTO both on the issue of new rules as well as on the problem of new membership. One should not forget that providing an opportunity to all States to use the benefits of the multilateral trading system is in the long-term interests of peace, security and stability. I wish to inform the General Assembly that, as its contribution to ensuring access for developing countries and least developed countries to the world market, Belarus has made a decision to extend unilateral trade preferences to a large number of such States. Our country’s National Centre of Technology Transfer has a high potential for innovation and is ready for extensive cooperation with all interested States. Its institutional capacities are intended to meet not only our requirements, but the interests of developing countries as well. Let me touch upon the problem of the consequences of the largest technogenic catastrophe of the twentieth century, the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. We are grateful to the leadership of the Secretariat for its ongoing activities to mobilize international support in that direction. This year has been marked by the establishment of the International Chernobyl Research and Information Network and of the international Chernobyl Forum by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Jointly with the delegations of other affected States, we have prepared for this session a draft resolution on strengthening international cooperation and coordination of efforts in studying, mitigating and minimizing the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. The document seeks to ensure the implementation of a new United Nations strategy on Chernobyl. We hope that it will be supported by all delegations. The Republic of Belarus also proposes an initiative to hold in Minsk in 2006 an international conference timed to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The main objectives of the conference will be the search for ways to provide normal living conditions to people living in affected areas and an exchange of experiences in solving the problems of sustainable development in those regions. We invite all interested Member States and international organizations to take part in preparing and holding this event. In the area of counteracting international crime, the fight against human trafficking and illegal drug trafficking should become one of the United Nations priorities. Our country has been actively participating in international efforts to stop the modern slave and drug trades. Located at the crossroads of the most important transportation corridors between Asia and Europe, Belarus offers efficient interaction in solving these problems with all our neighbours and, especially, with the European Union. Common efforts are needed to fight common problems; that way, everybody wins. The global scope of problems demands a global scale of interaction involving all States without exception. Mankind made itself the master of the world after having become homo sapiens — sentient man. In order to become the master of its destiny, and not a hostage to challenges and threats, humanity should become humanitas sapiens — sentient humanity.