5. I should like at the outset to express the satisfaction of the delegation of the People's Republic of Bulgaria at seeing the twentieth session of the General Assembly take place in accordance with the normal procedure. That this has been possible is a result of the constructive efforts of the great majority of States Members of the United Nations, which at the crucial moment formed a united front against the attempts which had been made for a long time to undermine the very foundation of the Organization and which last year, as you know, assumed disquieting proportions in the shape of the so-called financial crisis.
6. The first actions of the General Assembly at the beginning of this session — the appointment of the Credentials Committee and the almost unanimous election of the President — confirmed the general determination to return to normal procedure as laid down in the rules of procedure and ‘his augurs well for the normal progress of the session.
7. The delegation of the People's Republic of Bulgaria would like to express to President Fanfani its warmest congratulations on his election. We deeply regret the accident which temporarily keeps him away from the work of the Assembly. My delegation is happy that the representative of a country which maintains friendly relations with ours has assumed the direction of our work and we are convinced that his outstanding qualities will enable him to carry the work of the twentieth session to a successful conclusion.
8. I should like once again to express our admiration and gratitude to his predecessor, Mr. Quaison-Sackey, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ghana, who, despite the difficulties and obstacles which certain Powers created artificially, was able to guide the work of the Organization throughout a very difficult year and to preserve the possibilities for the future.
9. Twenty years ago, the peoples who had united in the struggle against the nazi aggressors created the United Nations, with the firm determination to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. They were imbued with the desire to create an international community founded on equality, liberty and national independence and were profoundly convinced that they were laying the foundations of a lasting institution whose object would be to ensure collective security and wide international co-operation.
10. The principles on which the Charter of the United Nations is based not only reflect the ideas of the period of history which ended with the war, but also serve as a political and legal basis for the regulation of international relations for decades to come. This has enabled the Organization to survive the tests of history and to adapt itself, in large measure, to the profound transformations which characterize our era;
11. Despite the many and persistent attempts to subordinate it to a policy of aggression and even to transform it into a willing tool for the preservation of colonial rule in all its forms and manifestations, as in the case of the Congo and Korea, the United Nations has been able, thanks to the efforts of the forces of progress and under the impetus of new forces, to make headway and contribute to the solution of the crucial problems of our time. It already has to its credit steadfast efforts for the preservation of peace, for general and complete disarmament, for the liberation of peoples from colonial rule and for fruitful co-operation among States.
12. We should like to mention the positive role of the Organization and its Secretary-General, U Thant, in bringing about the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan. We must also recognize the contribution of the Organization in restoring calm in Cyprus and we hope that the efforts made by the United Nations will bring about a peaceful, just and equitable solution based on respect for the territorial integrity, the independence and the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus.
13. As an international institution, the United Nations was created through the free consent of States. The co-ordinated actions of its Members determine the results of its activity.
14. The United Nations already has 117 Members. We wish to congratulate the States that have recently been admitted to membership — the Gambia, the Maldive Islands and Singapore. But the question of the Organization’s universality remains open, for the legitimate rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations have not yet been restored. This is not simply a matter of correcting an injustice, but above all of taking a realistic view of the development of international relations. We consider that the States Members of the United Nations must put an end to this situation once and for all and firmly resist those increasingly isolated forces that are still trying to prevent the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations.
15. The proposal of the non-aligned countries at the Cairo Conference in October 1964 for a world disarmament conference to which all countries would be invited emphasizes anew the necessity for the United Nations to be universal. That proposal, it will be recalled, was welcomed enthusiastically and adopted by an overwhelming majority by the Disarmament Commission. This is another demonstration in favour of the universality of the United Nations and in particular the restoration of the lawful rights of China in the United Nations. Whether one wishes it or not, other actions of this kind will be taken until that universality is achieved.
16. In the meantime, and apart from any considerations concerning the restoration of the lawful rights of China, which is entitled to be a Member of the United Nations, would it not be appropriate for the General Assembly to take up forthwith the suggestion Which the Secretary-General has made on two occasions that the countries which are not yet Members of the United Nations "should be enabled to maintain contact with the world body and listen to its deliberations, and thus be more directly exposed to the views of the rest of mankind" [A/6001/Add.1, sect, XII]? It is not right that the question of permanent observers should be left to the discretion of the host countries of the various agencies of the United Nations. It is high time that the General Assembly dealt with this question and took the necessary action, on the basis of equality and in the interest of co-operation and peace.
17. At a time when there was a relative easing of tension in international affairs following the Moscow Treaty on the partial banning of nuclear tests, and other developments before and after the Treaty, the United States, in violation of obligations solemnly assumed under the Charter of the United Nations, embarked upon a war of aggression against the heroic people of Viet-Nam. It has recently expanded its military strength in that country to more than 140,000 men — there is now talk of 150,000 — without counting the detachments of the Seventh Fleet and the naval aviation attached to it. Official circles in the United States foresee a further increase in American strength, which would reach 200,000 men by the end of this year, and there is even a possibility, according to current Press commentaries that their number will rise to a million. Recently the United States has even tried to legalize and get world public opinion to accept the use of gas in Viet-Nam.
18. The Bulgarian people and the Government of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria condemn the aggressive actions undertaken against the Viet-Namese people. In keeping with its policy of full support for the struggle of peoples against imperialism and colonialism, the Bulgarian Government supports the just cause of the Viet-Namese people for independence and within the limits of its modest resources is giving them effective aid.
19. The general hostility towards this policy of aggression against the people of Viet-Nam and the condemnation of the policy of intervention in the domestic affairs of that country have forced the United States, while it heightens the conflict, to try to drape itself in a flag of peace. A propaganda campaign is being waged to persuade world public opinion that the United States is ready to enter into talks with a view to settling the matter. But one wonders what credit can be given to such declarations after the aggression and ruthless bombings carried out against the people of Viet-Nam and against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. For negotiations to take place it would be necessary to go back to the principles laid down in the 1954 Geneva Agreements and to establish a situation conducive to the solution of the problem.
20. It is difficult indeed to conceive of a solution being found for the Viet-Namese problem without reverting to the Geneva Agreements and without restoring the previous situation by means of the immediate cessation of aggressive actions against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, the withdrawal of United States troops and weapons from South Viet-Nam and the observance of the Viet-Namese people's right to settle their own domestic affairs without foreign interference. The statements made by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam on 8 April 1965 and by the National Liberation Front of Viet-Nam on 22 March 1965 offer a sound basis for the settlement of the Viet-Namese question and for the restoration of peace in that part of the world.
21. Despite all their efforts, the United States and some of its allies have not succeeded in covering their war against the Viet-Namese people with the United Nations flag. It is in fact difficult for them to do so since, according to the authoritative opinion of the Secretary-General, "the settlement reached at Geneva in 1954 prescribed no role for the Organization in the settlement that was to follow” [A/6001/ Add.1, sect, XII].
22. This has not been the case in Korea, where the United Nations flag is still being used for intervention in the domestic affairs of that country. The reports of the Commission for the alleged reunification and alleged rehabilitation of Korea which, under pressure from the United States, appear on the agenda at each session bring to mind the dark pages of the history of the United Nations. Discussion of this question does not help either the reunification or the rehabilitation of Korea; it simply enables the United States to continue to keep its troops on Korean soil under the United Nations flag. The reunification of Korea is strictly a matter for the Korean people themselves. A real contribution to the reunification of that country could be made by action to prevent the United States using the United Nations flag to cover up its intervention in that country and by the dissolution of the United Nations Commission for the Reunification and Rehabilitation of Korea.
23. Although it is by far the most important factor and has the most profound impact on international problems, the aggression in Viet-Nam is not the only event which disturbs international co-operation. The United States intervention in the domestic affairs of the Dominican Republic, imposed and then carried on under the cover of a regional organization, has been just as much a threat to peace.
24. Despite the opinion of President George Washington that no nation has the right to interfere in the domestic affairs of another country — and an infinite number of variations have been played on that theme in the solemn statements of American leaders who wish to pose as defenders of those established principles of relations between States — the United States Government is intervening at present, in various forms and on various, and often unlikely pretexts, in the domestic affairs of other countries. It is doing so in flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the international treaties to which it has affixed its signature, thus jeopardizing international peace and security. Cuba, the Congo and a series of other countries are past and quite recent stages in a policy which has latterly become official United States policy. The resolution adopted by the United States Congress on the alleged right of the United States to intervene against the alleged communist threat in other countries has disturbed world public opinion and the parliaments of Latin America.
25. Founded on the principle of the sovereign equality of all countries, large and small, without distinction as to social system or geographical situation, the United Nations must not remain passive in the face of interventions in the domestic affairs of other countries. This attitude is even more logical since no provision of the Charter authorizes the United Nations to intervene in affairs which are the domestic concern of any State or obliges its Members to submit their domestic affairs to a settlement procedure under the Charter. At the twentieth session of the General Assembly the great majority of delegations have reaffirmed this basic principle of the Charter in their statements.
26. In the circumstances it is not surprising that the Soviet Union proposal to consider the question of the inadmissibility of intervention in the domestic affairs of States and the protection of their independence and sovereignty [see A/5977] has been favourably received by delegations. The violence done to international legality, the aggressions and interventions in the domestic affairs of other countries on the pretext of safeguarding the interests and the lives of citizens must cease. Is it necessary to remind some Powers and some circles that de facto opposition to progressive ideas or to the formation of Governments that peoples choose for themselves becomes, under the Charter, an international crime when it goes beyond national frontiers? In the circumstances it is certain that the United Nations, guided by the need to protect the independence and sovereignty of States, must find the ways and means for a clear and powerful condemnation of intervention in the domestic affairs of countries, both in the debates and in the decisions of the General Assembly at its twentieth session.
27. At a time when tension, armed conflicts, aggressions and interventions in the domestic affairs of other countries are threatening world peace and security, the process of the liberation of peoples from the colonial yoke is coming up against the violent intransigence of colonialist circles. Although it was speeded up after the victory against fascism and nazism during the Second World War, this "irreversible process" which, under resolution 1514 (XV) adopted by the General Assembly in 1960, was to take place immediately, without any conditions or reservations, in accordance with the freely expressed will of peoples, has encountered many obstacles.
28. Only a few days ago, IanSmith, the representative of the white minority in Southern Rhodesia, stated that he would seek to preserve the privileges and the power of that minority over the immense majority of the black population by establishing a Government which would pursue a policy of racial discrimination. This new potential ally for South Africa, a country in which the white minority has for a long time been practising the policy of segregation and apartheid, creates a new and real danger for peace and security in that region. United under the protection of their Western allies, the forces of Portuguese colonialism, which still hold a huge area of Africa under their sway, and the South African and Southern Rhodesian racists are preparing to establish a large military force for the purpose of opposing the struggle for liberation of the peoples of the African continent. At the same time, they intend to indulge in military adventures against certain African countries-Zambia, Tanzania and others — which by their example as countries freed from the colonial yoke, seem to threaten the continuation of colonial domination in that region.
29. In other parts of the globe, too, the forces of colonialism are not disarming. They are seeking revenge in Arab lands. Only a few weeks ago, the United Kingdom Government, in defiance of the General Assembly resolutions [1949 (XVIII) and 1972 (XVIII)] on the question of Aden and despite its obligations under the Charter, repealed the Constitution of Aden, declared a state of emergency and subjected the population of that region to an intensified regime of terror and oppression. This is another sudden move by colonialism and an effort, albeit in vain, to stop the irreversible march of history. Such actions increase the suffering of the colonial peoples and create new dangers for peace in that part of the world.
30. In the face of the united political and military front of the colonialists, who are trying to sabotage the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, the efforts of the Member States and organs of the United Nations must be mobilized. The establishment of permanent contact between the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity, which has already been the subject of a General Assembly resolution [2011 (XX)], is certainly necessary and useful. But should not steps be taken also to direct Member States towards a policy of providing more active and effective assistance to colonial peoples which would make it possible to accelerate the process of decolonization and finally liberate those peoples from the inhuman regime which they are still enduring?
31. Our people and its Government are convinced that the struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America for independence and national sovereignty will triumph. Manoeuvres and repressive measures serve only to increase the aspirations of those peoples to liberty and independence, and to fortify them in their struggle to attain those goals. Bulgaria is prepared, within the limits of its capabilities, to make every effort, now and in the future, to assist in the triumph of the struggle of colonial peoples for liberation.
32. Instead of endeavouring to eliminate the last vestiges of colonialism, some Powers are seeking to re-establish their domination over newly liberated countries by exploiting their economic difficulties.- It is high time to move towards the complete elimination of colonialism, to assist new States to establish their independence firmly on solid economic and technical foundations, without political or military conditions.
33. While we are referring to the remnants of colonialism, it might be useful to draw the attention of delegations to the necessity of trying to put an end to certain situations which have required United Nations mediation or intervention; but — and I am quoting from the introduction to the Annual Report of the Secretary-General:
"... the very fact that they" — some United Nations peace-keeping operations — "have become an accepted and semi-permanent part of the way of life in the areas has tended to some extent to reduce
the sense of urgency which might stimulate a search by the parties concerned for a basic and peaceful solution of their conflicts ’' [A/6001/Add.1, sect. VII].
This is true, for example, of the question of Palestine, which is a permanent threat to the peace of the Middle East.
34. One sphere in which the disputes and tensions caused by certain Powers exert a harmful influence is certainly that of disarmament. For a long time the Eighteen-Nation Committee — or rather the Seventeen-Nation Committee, since France does not take part — has been discussing many questions relating to disarmament, without any success or result. The international tension engendered by the war in Viet- Nam, the interventions in the domestic affairs of other countries and the obstructive efforts of certain Powers have for a long time blocked all work on disarmament in the Eighteen-Nation Committee. In the circumstances it is not surprising that the initiative of the non-aligned countries in proposing the convening of a world disarmament conference received an exceptionally favourable welcome. The resolution adopted on this question at the most recent meetings of the Disarmament Commission opens up new prospects. We must now take steps to convene that conference quickly, so that during 1966 the desire of the peoples may be realized, namely that the question of disarmament should be discussed in a universal forum in which all countries, without distinction, can take part on a basis of equality. In view of the lack of positive results achieved within the artificially restricted framework of the United Nations — and we know the reason for that — and as a result of the subversive activities of some Powers, the eyes of the peoples are turned towards this conference in the hope that their ardent desire for the elimination of war through general and complete disarmament will at last be realized.
35. With the increase in the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons, the question of the non-dissemination of such weapons is of particular importance. Certainly, while working to prevent such weapons from becoming the national weapons of each country, steps should be taken — and this is the particular responsibility of the great Powers possessing nuclear weapons — to halt the arms race, to reverse the flow, to ensure that nuclear weapons will never be used and to bring about their speedy elimination from the arsenals of nations. Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, however, is not so simple a matter. It calls for constructive efforts on the part of all Powers and in all fields of disarmament. Measures such as the withdrawal of foreign troops, the elimination of military bases on foreign soil and banning the use of nuclear weapons would certainly do a great deal to advance the cause of non-proliferation, and vice versa.
36. The banning of nuclear tests could also help considerably towards the solution of the problem of the non-proliferation and the elimination of nuclear weapons. The proposals put forward by the non-aligned countries, more particularly by the United Arab Republic, for the conclusion of an agreement on halting underground nuclear tests and the acceptance of a moratorium on all other kinds of tests, are an important step towards a solution to this problem.
37. The USSR proposal for the conclusion of a treaty, without escape clause, on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons [see A/5976] is of great importance at this stage. This proposal must be given serious consideration; it must be carefully examined at the twentieth session and the appropriate decisions must he taken. Many countries have already indicated that they endorse this proposal. The Government of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, for its part, wholeheartedly supports it and will do all in its power to help to put an end to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
38. The non-dissemination of nuclear weapons cannot, however, be reconciled with the attempts to satisfy the appetites of certain States which wish to obtain control of these weapons through military alliances; that is the aim of the plans for "multilateral forces" or "Atlantic nuclear forces". We know that certain circles in Europe are particularly anxious to obtain control of nuclear weapons and are sparing no effort to obtain them, in order to use them as a means of coercion to settle the situations resulting from the Second World War in their own way. Any attempt to seek a settlement of those situations by sharing the control of nuclear weapons or by threatening to employ them would not only be dangerous, it would be sheer madness, particularly in the present circumstances where a spark would suffice to precipitate a catastrophe.
39. We note with satisfaction that the tendency to seek a solution to the German problem on a realistic basis — acceptance of the existence of two German States in Europe, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic — is gaining ground. On that basis it will be possible to open the way to a rapprochement between the two German States, which will lead to the reunification of the German people. German unity can be achieved only by peaceful and democratic means and principles; it must consolidate the political and social achievements of the German people.
40. The reunification of the German people must, of .course, be accompanied by the establishment of a European collective security system. The victory of this school of thought would have a favourable effect on relations among all European States and would eliminate one of the principal obstacles to the reunification of Germany. This idea is gaining more and more ground in Europe. One indication of this is the increasingly important role being played by. the German Democratic Republic on the international scene; its growing authority is due above all to the fact that it is determined to live in peace and friendship with all European countries.
41. The People's Republic of Bulgaria, guided by its conviction that all States, great and small, can and should contribute to the strengthening of world peace, is persevering in its efforts to transform the Balkans
into an area of peace and co-operation. Disregarding the fact that the Balkan States have different social and political systems, we have acted on the principle that all questions arising among them can and should be settled through negotiations, for we are deeply convinced that this is the only realistic course possible in the present age. This is proved by the fact that the efforts exerted to that end have resulted in a noticeable improvement in the political climate in this region, the conclusion of a series of agreements between our country and neighbouring States, and exchanges of friendly visits with several Balkan countries — results which have already been mentioned at this rostrum.
42. Faithful to its policy of peaceful coexistence and non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, the Bulgarian Government is seeking new ways and means of increasing co-operation with all countries of the world, for it is convinced that the stabilization of the situation in the Balkans can make a great contribution to the relaxation of tension and the safeguarding of peace.
43. The words of the President of the Council of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Todor Jivkov, are significant in that connexion; on 25 September 1965 he said:
"We are determined to spare no effort in order that the Balkans may become a region of peace, friendship, understanding and mutually profitable co-operation, and that a denuclearized zone may be established in that region and in the region of the Adriatic."
44. In this spirit, and on the basis of the principles of peaceful coexistence which are the very foundation of its Government's policy, the delegation of the People's Republic of Bulgaria is ready to work with the delegations of all countries, great and small, irrespective of their social and political systems, within the framework of the Charter, to solve the problems on the agenda of this session.