Estonia

Allow me to begin by congratulating Mr. Jan Eliasson, upon his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixtieth session. We have full confidence in him and in his team. I would also like to commend Mr. Jean Ping for the pivotal role that he played during the fifty-ninth session. The leaders of the world gathered in this very Hall last week at the largest summit meeting in history. The outcome document adopted by the heads of State or Government has given us very concrete tasks for the future. The reform continues; we will have to maintain focus and take important decisions during the sixtieth session. My remarks today will be confined to a few main topics, with a specific emphasis on Estonia’s contribution to our common goals. Development, security and human rights are interconnected issues. It is inconceivable that global progress in those areas can be made without an effective multilateral system, fully in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter. As we pointed out a week ago in the outcome document, no country can tackle today’s intricate challenges alone. Estonia is fully committed to strengthening the United Nations. We live in a global and interdependent world and we thus need to combine our efforts. There has to be cooperation among different organizations that have the capacity for conflict prevention and peacekeeping operations, as well as for providing for such requirements as logistical support and training. The United Nations cannot hope to find a United Nations solution for all problems. Estonia is pleased to see that the United Nations is actively forging a deeper partnership with various organizations. Estonia is actively participating in the common efforts of both the European Union and NATO. We feel that the United Nations, the European Union and NATO should all continue working towards mutually fruitful cooperation and towards greater predictability in terms of the allocation of resources. The more we coordinate our activities, the better will be the results we can achieve in dealing with conflict, poverty and human suffering. The European Union has made great headway in developing battle groups, thus increasing our ability to react swiftly in crisis situations. Estonia will continue to contribute through various organizations to the stability of Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Kosovo and the Middle East. Our long- term contribution to United Nations monitoring on the Israeli-Lebanese border, our explosives-detecting teams in Afghanistan, our substantive presence — considering the size of Estonia — in Kosovo, our assistance in training the new Iraqi police force and our participation in stabilizing Iraq are just a few examples of my country’s contribution to common efforts. Estonia also acknowledges the need to develop African peacekeeping and to provide better training for United Nations peacekeepers. We hosted a United Nations peacekeeping “train the trainers” course in Estonia just a few months ago, attended by peacekeepers from some 30 countries. Over the years, we have shown our continued commitment to United Nations activities, including peacekeeping, in a very simple and unequivocal way — by paying regularly and on time the full amount of our assessed contributions. The role of the international community does not end at the point where we manage to stop an ongoing conflict. As we all know, without adequate State structures, a country faces the risk of relapsing into conflict. Therefore, Estonia welcomes the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, and we hope to see the first results of its work fairly soon. The next issue I would like to address is terrorism. Here, our position is unequivocal: terrorism is unacceptable in all circumstances, and we should be united against it. We regret that the summit document 37 does not condemn the deliberate killing of civilians and non-combatants. Estonia believes that the anti-terrorism strategy put forward by Secretary-General Kofi Annan should be adopted and implemented. We consider the conclusion of the comprehensive convention against international terrorism an utmost priority during the current session of the General Assembly. Estonia fully implements all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and supports the initiatives of the United Nations and other international organizations in preventing and combating terrorism. A few days ago, Estonia signed the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is another pressing security concern. We regret that no agreement was reached on non-proliferation and disarmament during the summit. There is a serious concern over slow progress in the sphere of poverty eradication and the realization of other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Estonia, together with other European Union member States, is increasing resources devoted to development cooperation. Despite our status as a new donor, Estonia’s official development assistance in 2004 was already 0.08 per cent of gross national income. We are steadily increasing our input, and this will also raise our voluntary contribution to United Nations development-related activities. No State will be able to achieve the MDGs as long as it does not respect fundamental human rights. The second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People coincides with the targeted time frame for the accomplishment of the MDGs — 2015. If we truly want to achieve the MDGs, we must focus on the issues that matter most to people, including indigenous peoples. The implementation of the MDGs in connection with the indigenous peoples has to be viewed within the broader context of the Millennium Declaration, which brings together the three basic aims of the United Nations Charter — peace and security, economic and social development, and human rights. One cannot, of course, fail to mention the matter of climate change, the relevance of which has become especially clear after recent natural disasters. Indeed, we have to step up global long-term cooperation so that we can produce real change. I would like to stress the significance of the Human Rights Council. We see the Council as a standing Charter body, well-connected with other United Nations structures, including the Security Council. Human rights violators should not have a seat at the Council. Estonia is committed to promoting human rights as universal values that should be guaranteed for all. We are pleased that the summit agreed to double the regular budget for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights within the next five years. I would like to stress Estonia’s firm belief in the extraordinary importance of democracy, good governance and the rule of law. Estonia supports the creation of the Democracy Fund, to which we will make a financial contribution. Estonia applauds the agreement that we reached on the responsibility to protect. We should all fulfil commitments nationally, but we should also be prepared to deal with cases of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and all other crimes against humanity urgently requiring outside intervention, even if it has not been requested. In such cases, the international community has to take action. As a founding member of the International Criminal Court, we are disappointed not to see any reference to this Court in the outcome document. We deem the Court, as well as other instruments of international justice, vital to counter impunity for international crimes. Sixty years ago, world leaders made a promise to prevent war, to defend human rights and to help the peoples of the world to achieve safety, prosperity and freedom. Let us be bold and try harder than ever to achieve these goals.