79. Mr. President, my delegation has already had an opportunity to offer you its congratulations upon your election to your high office. I therefore wish to limit myself to adding my warmest personal congratulations, based on our personal ties of friendship grown during your terms of office as Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy.
80. The United Nations is now completing the second decade of its existence and it seems to us that the time is ripe for a realistic appraisal of the condition in which our Organization finds itself now that it is about to come of age. Last year we were all deeply concerned with the fundamental problem which had turned the General Assembly — as I said in January from this rostrum [1318th meeting] — into a half-lamed giant.
81. As we all know, the financial crisis in the United Nations and the arrangements for future peacekeeping operations have been discussed here and elsewhere at great length. I do not wish again to go into various positions adopted. Suffice it to remind the Assembly that my country belonged — and still belongs — to those who subscribed to the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, to wit, that expenses for peace-keeping operations belong to the expenses mentioned in Article 17 of our Charter, for which Members can be assessed by the General Assembly. This view implies, however, that before decisions on peace-keeping operations are made, all the political and financial consequences are examined with the greatest care in order to be sure that such a decision can be carried out in practice. The deadlock of last year paralysed the nineteenth session of the General Assembly and threatened to paralyse the whole of the United Nations. Unresolved, it would have made normal work impossible for this twentieth session. Only a major concession on the part of some countries rendered it possible to return to a normal procedure.
82. The United Nations cannot work except on the basis of give and take. But "give and take" does not mean that one side has to do all the giving and the other side all the taking. My delegation believes, therefore, that one may reasonably ask of those who objected to pay a share in certain operations that they should now make their own contribution to a solution of the two remaining aspects of the problem, namely, the solvency of the Organization and the question of future peace-keeping operations. They could do so by making voluntary contributions to reduce the remaining deficit of the United Nations, and furthermore by agreeing to a compromise arrangement for future peace-keeping operations.
83. On both these residual aspects of the problem, the remaining deficit and the arrangements for future peace-keeping operations, I should like to make my Government's attitude clear.
84. The Committee of Thirty-three has recommended that the financial difficulties of the Organization should be solved through voluntary contributions by Member States, with the highly developed countries making substantial contributions. The Netherlands has from the beginning subscribed to the principle that in certain cases the developed nations should pay a higher share than their normal quota.
85. Speaking about the financial problems of our Organization, I should like to support a suggestion made here on 29 September by the Foreign Minister of France. Mr. Couve de Murville pointed out that no one at this moment has a clear idea of what the balance sheet of the United Nations could be. He furthermore pointed out that there has been a constant accumulation and increase of expenses of the Organization proper and of its specialized agencies. Mr. Couve de Murville then said:
"From this analysis, France concludes that this financial crisis should be taken as the opportunity to take a fresh look at the situation of the United Nations as a whole — including that of the specialized agencies — to draw up a clear, complete and Candid balance sheet for them, to revise our methods..." [1341st meeting, para. 91].
86. My delegation agrees with this suggestion. After twenty years of growth, it is almost inevitable that the United Nations machinery should show a number of duplications, outgrowths which have outlived their usefulness, and the like. Every machinery needs a periodic overhaul to maintain peak efficiency.
87. I should like only to add that I hope that the voluntary contributions which I mentioned earlier will be forthcoming without awaiting the outcome of a necessarily time-consuming operation as proposed by Mr. Couve de Murville.
88. My Government, like many others, is of the opinion that the so-called financial crisis of the United Nations was not limited to the problem of the financing of past or future peace-keeping operations; basically it is a structural crisis. My country has put its views on that subject on record for the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations. Then we made it clear that in our view, in order to survive, the United Nations would have to retrace some of the steps taken since 1950 in the realm of operational peace-keeping actions. It goes without saying that my Government continues to attach great
importance to that aspect of United Nations activity, namely, peace-keeping actions. If any doubt should have subsisted about the need for such operations, it has been dispelled beyond doubt by the armed conflicts of these last few weeks between India and Pakistan and the ensuing need, at short notice, of a great number of military observers.
89. It is, however, clear that the United Nations cannot afford a recurrence of a controversy over a particular operation such as we witnessed last year. Large-scale peace-keeping operations should therefore be undertaken in future only if there exists a reasonable measure of agreement among the great Powers, and only if their financing is assured, either by the application of general rules or by an ad hoc arrangement. The search for general and generally accepted principles for future peace-keeping operations should therefore be actively pursued. My Government has participated in this pursuit and will continue to do so. The discussion in the Committee of Thirty-three has considerably clarified the issues and alternatives. My Government is prepared to co-operate towards a compromise which would establish a new balance between the authority of the Security Council and the General Assembly, and in which the primary responsibility of the Security Council for international peace and security would again be more strongly emphasized. The experiences of the coming years will, I feel sure, indicate in what way the residual responsibility of the General Assembly, as laid down in the Charter, should be exercised. The Netherlands, I think, gave ample proof that its preparedness to contribute to peace-keeping operations was not theoretical, when on 24 September 1963 [1213th meeting], I informed the General Assembly, from this rostrum, that the Netherlands Government had decided to put a standby contingent of its armed forces at the disposal of the Organization.
90. Experience since then has demonstrated that the United Nations will in future need more elaborate and more diversified military contributions from its Members if it is effectively to exercise its peacekeeping task. I therefore take great pleasure in announcing that the Netherlands Government has decided to increase its original offer of standby forces considerably by expending it to diversified units of navy, army and air force. We are informing the Secretary-General as to the composition of the increased stand-by forces.
91. First, the Royal Netherlands Navy: in the first instance, a contingent of 600 Royal Marines; then an under way fleet supply ship, equipped whenever necessary with four transport-liaison helicopters, as well as a number of vessels for patrolling and reconnaissance. In a later phase this naval contribution may be enlarged with other units, notably a light aircraft carrier for transport of personnel and equipment, as well as other units to serve as headquarters ship or as logistic support ship. So much for the navy.
92. The contribution of the Royal Netherlands Army will consist of: a self-contained and self-supporting armoured infantry battalion, available in the course of 1966, and a medical unit in the strength of an independent medical company. These Army units can be made available at short notice, once they have been readied for transport abroad.
93. The contribution of the Royal Netherlands Air Force consists of: one Fokker F.27 transport plane with crew and/or three Alouette II helicopters with crew.
94. It goes without saying that this offer is made on the understanding that in each specific case prior consultation with and agreement of the Netherlands Government will be required. We trust that this contribution will be of assistance to the United Nations, and we hope that it will induce an increasing number of countries of different regional groups likewise to make contingents available on a stand-by basis.
95. I mentioned just now the increased emphasis on the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security. My country has been privileged again to occupy a seat on that important body since 1 January of this year, and consequently we have been closely associated with all aspects of the work of this principal organ of the United Nations. We were particularly happy to be able to play some part in bringing about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. We also wish to compliment the Secretary-General for his unrelenting efforts in trying to carry the Council’s decisions into practice. The result obtained is of signal importance because thus far it has been the gravest armed conflict halted by the United Nations. But of even greater significance in the long run may prove to be the fact that, for the first time in many years, the Security Council has again been able to take drastic action on the basis of unanimity of its permanent members. This is how the Council was originally intended to function, and it strengthens the trend towards a return to a greater role for the Council, which has been noticeable lately.
96. During the last six months the Security Council not only has displayed a greater activity than in previous years, but it has shown an increasing awareness among all Council members of the necessity to reach generally acceptable decisions. It was thus that unanimity was achieved on the border incidents between Portuguese Guinea and Senegal, on the worrying situation in Cyprus, and several times in the conflict between India and Pakistan.
97. We are particularly happy about this increased activity of the Security Council because we feel that that body may have to take on more activities in depth. I mean to say that we have not sufficiently used all the means put at our disposal by the Charter in order to achieve a stage where the parties to a dispute bridge their differences and arrive at negotiated settlements. We may perhaps have neglected to tackle the basic underlying problems which led to hostilities.
98. The problem of Kashmir provided the world with one glaring example of our failure to act in time; but others — let me mention only the conflict in the Middle East and the situation in Cyprus — are easy to find. All these cases show the necessity of unrelenting pressure on the parties concerned in order to arrive at negotiated settlements.
99. Likewise, beyond the formal agendas of the General Assembly and the Security Council, the most disquieting conflict of our day — the war in Viet-Nam — looms large in our preoccupations. We are all aware of the complexities of the problems involved in that question. We are by no means sure, or even hopeful, that the United Nations can perform a useful task in promoting a solution of the Viet-Namese conflict. We can hope only — and my delegation does fervently hope — that the bloodshed and destruction will convince those parties who thus far have steadfastly refused to come to the conference table that the use of armed force does not solve the problem.
100. On the other hand, it is just as important that one should keep in mind the limitations imposed upon the United Nations by its very nature. The United Nations is an Organization of sovereign States, not a superstate; it provides a forum and a machinery for the Governments, not a supergovernment. One cannot, therefore, expect the United Nations to lay down solutions and to impose them upon the parties. The United Nations as such cannot impose a solution of its own. When there is a conflict between large States, especially, a solution has ultimately got to be agreed upon by the parties to that conflict. A threat to withdraw from the United Nations cannot alter this basic fact.
101. In View of the many potentially dangerous situations confronting us today, it may be useful again to draw the attention of the Assembly to the fact that peace and prosperity cannot be separated one from the other; and, for more than two thirds of our World population, prosperity is almost entirely dependent on development. There is also an unbreakable link between peace and development. One day's gun-fire can jeopardize an entire development programme, and may even destroy years of patient work of fighting poverty and promoting, prosperity and progress.
102. This strong connexion between peace and prosperity brings me to the scope of that other principal organ of our Organization, the Economic and Social Council. With your permission, Mr. President, I should like to make a brief observation on the future task of this Council.
103. The Economic and Social Council is, I believe, entering a new era. This year's thirty-ninth session of the Council has provided sufficient evidence that all geographical regions are placing a renewed confidence in the contribution by the entire United Nations family, including the specialized agencies, to an accelerated development of the less developed areas of the world. The conclusions of that session point in the direction of a revalidation of the Council's position as the co-ordinating and stimulating organ in this field, as intended by the authors of our Charter. From this rostrum, I want to express our sincere hope that, in future, we shall hear less of the so-called "constitutional responsibilities" of the various Members of the United Nations family, and more of that single and unique responsibility which all parts of the United Nations system share in the combined and concerted struggle for more prosperity, more well-being, more happiness, for more people.
104. In any case, we feel that recent developments have shown that the Economic and Social Council has rightly retained its position as the central United Nations organ for the elaboration of world policy on development, and that the responsibilities of the Conference on Trade and Development in this field are, of necessity, more limited in scope. We hope and trust that duplication, overlapping, and general waste of effort and of manpower will be avoided in the delimitation of the work to be done by the various United Nations organs and agencies active in this field.
105. Having made some observations on the future of the two great Councils of this Organization — the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council — I should like to add that my delegation is very happy indeed that the amendments to the Charter concerning the increase in membership of both Councils have now entered into force. My delegation has been active towards this end for many years because these amendments will bring about a more fair representation of the new Members of our Organization, to which these Members are entitled.
106. Before I end, I feel bound to say a few words about certain developments in my own continent, Europe.
107. As is well known, the Netherlands, since the last war, has been a staunch champion of the ideal of a United Europe. Since 1944, this ideal has found practical expression in various organizations, such as Benelux, the Council of Europe, the Western European Union, the European Coal and Stell Community, Euratom, and, finally, the most important of them all, the Common Market. We did consider, and still do consider, that organization as the nucleus of the economic and also the political unification of all the free and democratic countries of Europe. Even a year ago, I still would have expressed my confident hope that the impetus of the Common Market would not fail, within the foreseeable future, to bring about the practical realization of our ideals. Unfortunately, during the last months, the crisis in the Common Market has dimmed our expectations, and I greatly fear that a serious slow-down — if not worse — will result from these unfortunate developments. Nevertheless, in the long run, I remain confident of the final outcome, because the integration of the economies and the parallel political interest have been too far advanced to envisage the failure of the whole concept. Although these developments are not the subject of discussion within the United Nations, I felt that they are of such importance that I was entitled briefly to touch upon them because, indirectly, they will certainly affect many regions besides Europe.
108. The twentieth session is, understandably, faced with a heavy agenda. On many of the items before us, the Netherlands delegation will have a good deal to say. This will be the case in particular when the important subject of disarmament, with all its related problems, comes up; and again, when the details of the work in the economic and social sphere, including all aspects of aid to less developed countries, are discussed. We intend to take an active part in the debate in the Committees, on these and other items dealt with by the Secretary-General in his valuable annual report [A/6001]. As far as the general debate is concerned, I want to limit myself to the remarks I have just made.
109. After the disappointing nineteenth session, it is encouraging to note that the twentieth session is opening in a spirit of greater co-operation, optimism and determination, which may indicate, as we hope, that the United Nations has passed the depression of last year and is now on the upgrade again. Nothing could have marked this change in atmosphere better, or could have contributed more to it, than the august presence among us yesterday of His Holiness the Pope.
110. In this spirit I hope, Mr. President, that at your next visit to Rome, you will convey to His Holiness the feelings of deep gratitude that all of us in this Assembly nurture for his truly historic and deeply moving contribution to the cause of peace; and I pray that the Almighty may grant us guidance and wisdom in our labours.