115. Madam President, it is a source of satisfaction to
me that the unanimous choice for the exalted office of
President has fallen upon you, whose smiling authority
merely emphasizes the great competence you have acquired
by long familiarity with this hall. My pleasure in greeting
you is all the greater because you are the eminent
representative of a young continent whose problems are
particularly close to my heart. I am convinced that your
appointment is a good omen and fraught with significance
today, the eve of the Second United Nations Development
Decade.
116. At the same time I should like to convey once again
to our Secretary-General, U Thant, an expression of the
confidence that my Government has always shown in him
for his tireless efforts to bring about a permanent understanding
among all peoples so as to eliminate the conflicts
that still threaten international peace and security. I
particularly wish to congratulate him on the report he has
submitted to our Assembly [A/7601 and Add.1], which is
the most complete and lucid analysis possible of the world
situation.
117. As we resume our work it is my duty to pay sincere
homage to the memory of President Arenales, who was
taken from us prematurely by his death a few months ago.
In guiding the Assembly’s debates last year this distinguished
man, now departed, showed objectivity, efficiency
and wisdom. Let us recall the prophetic words he uttered
before the closing of the twenty-third session, summing up
for the last time in a few meaningful phrases the lamentable
and congenital weakness of the United Nations:
“... the evils of this world cannot be cured simply by
negotiated resolutions, but only by the actions of
Governments” [1752nd meeting, para. 483].
118. We have only to analyse the events of the past year
from this point of view to see that we are certainly not
justified in displaying an optimistic attitude. The same
disputes may not have actually grown worse but still claim
the distraught attention of international public opinion.
Unfortunately their persistence has widened the rift separating
the opponents in current conflicts and made the
search for compromise solutions even more precarious. It
seems to us that not until the general atmosphere is
improved will peace and calm be restored to the regions of
the world where fighting is only too often preferred to a
direct, frank and honest dialogue.
119. In the Middle East, above all, the lack of success of
the attempts made so far to find a way out of the impasse
seems to us fraught with serious dangers for the future. All
the unwearying efforts there have been made both by the
Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Mr. Jarring, and
by the four great Powers still have not induced the parties
to comply with the body of directives contained in the
resolution [242 (1967)] adopted nearly two years ago by
the Security Council.
120. Allow me to express here the fear of a small nation
which has put all its trust in the United Nations. Resolutions
adopted in this forum should never at any cost remain
dead letters. If they are not respected by the parties, the
United Nations may lose its role of guarantor of the peace.
How can we understand and a fortiori explain or even
justify the conduct of countries which, while calling upon
the authority of the United Nations to ensure respect for
what they consider their legitimate rights and to put an end
to a dispute, deliberately refuse to implement and respect a
resolution adopted unanimously by the Security Council of
the United Nations?
121. Similarly, I cannot accept the idea that Member
countries of our Organization should after so many years
still stubbornly refuse to recognize a State that has been
admitted to full membership of our Organization by an
overwhelming majority. It is perfectly possible to disapprove
of a choice; but to go on indefinitely disputing a
historical fact seems to us unreasonable. In our opinion, to
dispute a majority decision of the United Nations is
equivalent to disputing the authority, not to say the value,
of the Organization to which we all belong; and this seems
to us even more regrettable.
122. In this instance the lost time clearly does not word in
favour of peace. To escape from the present vicious circle it
will in any case be necessary eventually to renounce for
good and all the acquisition of any territory by force and to
recognize in practical terms the political independence and
territorial integrity of all the established States in the
Middle East. Inflexibility met only with. intransigence
would inevitably entail suffering for those who live in that
part of the world.
123. Daily experience also shows us ever more clearly that
the repeated use of force, the progressive escalation of
violence and repeated declarations of intransigence only stir
up passions and emotions even further, strengthen the
position of extremists of every kind and.threaten to wrest
control of the situation from the responsible political
leaders.
124. It is my duty to condemn the terrorist activities
which are increasing in “third countries” not involved in
the conflict. How do the leaders of these movements dare
to hope that they will win over public opinion to their
cause by outrages and acts of piracy in countries which
have always argued for a peaceful settlement of the
dispute?
125. We fully endorse what the Secretary-General has said
on this subject in his annual report [A/7601, chap. I,
sect. D.1]. Not only should these acts of terrorism and
piracy — what else can I call them? — be formally condemned
by our Organization, but each Member country should
undertake to apply severe sanctions against the authors of
such crimes and, above all, should refuse to derive the
slightest advantage, either direct or indirect, from such acts
of piracy.
126. Who in this hall could still fail to recognize the scale
of the problems, particularly that of the Palestinian
refugees? In our view our efforts should not be aimed
solely at establishing a cease-fire, ensuring the recognition
of frontiers of reopening the Suez Canal, but should also
tackle the actual causes of the unrest and trouble. We
believe that we can attain this goal only by solving the
unavoidable problem of the Palestinian refugees; and to do
this it seems to us essential to establish direct communication
with their authorized and properly-qualified spokesmen.
127. Even if today the antagonisms are too greatly
exacerbated, even if there obviously seems no longer any
prospect of the dialogue so long desired between Israel and
the Arab States, even in the face of our Organization’s
inability to enforce respect for its resolution of 1967, we
still hope that the parties will rely upon the good offices of
the great Powers.
128. It seems to us that the four great Powers are in
absolute duty bound to persevere in the course which they
have sketched for themselves by tirelessly continuing their
efforts to bring about a rapprochement of the points of view
which still divide the opposing parties so deeply. They must
not impose a ready-made solution from outside, but must
none the less make moves that. will restore calm in that
troubled area. We fully endorse what the Belgian Minister
for Foreign Affairs said on this point [7765th meeting],
and we are bound to be gratified to note that on this
occasion the four great Powers, which enjoy special rights
in the United Nations, are also assuming special responsibilities.
We hope that through their mediation, even without
direct contacts—which we still hope for as keenly as ever—,
at least an indirect confrontation of the various parties will
begin.
129. For its own part the United Nations, whose observer
groups have often in the past fulfilled their delicate
missions with competence and dedication, could by its
presence again substantially help to bring back a state of
appeasement and thus eventually facilitate the establishment
of a just and lasting peace. Let the success of the
practical measures taken to restore peace in Cyprus be an
example to us in the future. To give the peace-making
machinery — now maintained by voluntary contributions — a
solid institutional and financial basis, and to make of it an
effective and undisputed instrument immune from last-minute
improvisations, seems to me one of our most important goals.
130. With the same anxiety as they feel for the Middle
East, the peoples of the whole world impatiently await the
end of the bloody battles which continue to ravage
Viet-Nam. Public opinion has followed with close attention
the negotiations which were finally started last year in Paris
and which then seemed to express a true and sincere desire
to end the war as quickly as possible. The continuation of
the conflict is an imminent danger to world peace, not to
speak of the terrible loss of human life, goods and resources
that it entails. It is impossible to hide a feeling of regret and
disappointment when faced with the fact. that so far these
talks do not seem to have led to any real progress. It
therefore remains to be hoped that the positive gestures
that have been made repeatedly by the United States
Government will meet with a real response, and that both
sides will agree to give the people of Viet-Nam complete
freedom to decide their own fate, safe from intimidation
and from threats of overt or covert intervention from abroad.
131. For my part, I regret that the recent efforts of the
Government of the United States have not been appreciated
equally at their true worth by all Member States and that,
on the contrary, certain States have responded to them
only by casting doubt on their intentions. It is no good
claiming that these efforts are in fact only concessions
distilled drop by drop, gestures of appeasement and
understanding meted out too sparingly. We think that, on
the contrary, each and every one of us should express the
wish that small steps or gestures on one side might be met
by an equal number of moves on the other, thus making
possible a gradual advance towards a comprehensive and
final solution.
132. Although it is not for our Organization to deal with a
crisis which under the terms of the Charter is exclusively
within the jurisdiction of one Member State, we cannot
refrain indefinitely from expressing our concern at the
progress of the civil war which has been raging for more
than two years in Nigeria. True, the Nigerian war is an
African war, and the duty to end it is therefore in the first
instance our African friends’. But, to judge by the latest
events in that part of the world, our hope of a settlement of
this fratricidal confrontation within the African continent
is receding into the remote future and we recall mankind’s
darkest hours.
133. Last year from the same rostrum Mr. Debré, speaking
for France, laid particular stress on the right of peoples to
self-determination. He asked our African friends what they
themselves intended to do in regard to the principle of
self-determination, and reminded them of what Europeans
had learnt from long and painful experience. He said:
“Intolerance can exist among brothers too” [1683rd
meeting, para. 79]. I invite this Assembly to consider — now
that one of the fundamental principles of our Charter is at
stake, not that a settlement seems unlikely save by violence
and the inaction and silence of the nations make us mere
anguished spectators of the appalling slaughter of a whole
people — whether the United Nations is not in duty bound,
if it is not to fail in its mission, to take up the problem,
remove it from its present setting and impose a solution
that will be just for all?
134. Addressing myself more particularly to the African
States, I would ask them whether, in the presence of this
situation and in the absence of a quick solution, and aware
of our responsibilities, they do not consider that they
should lay this problem before the Assembly themselves.
135. As we seek to establish harmony and understanding
among all the members of the international community,
with the aim of bringing about lasting peace and justice to
the world, efforts to promote disarmament are rightly
among our major concerns. Last year the signing by an
impressive number of countries of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution
2373 (XXII)], although it was a preventive step rather than
a step towards disarmament proper, nevertheless helped to
create a more confident atmosphere among the great
Powers. That Treaty has opened up new opportunities of
ending the atomic arms race. By making clear that they
intend to take effective measures leading to real nuclear
disarmament, the Powers that have the privilege of possessing
atomic weapons can give an adequate answer to the
critics who are still rising up on various sides to oppose
acceptance without reservation of the non-proliferation
Treaty. Such an agreement must, in order to be effective,
become universal as quickly as possible; and we are bound
to.make a rousing and urgent appeal to all Powers to sign
the Treaty.
136. A détente prepared in that way will, in our opinion,
enable the current talks on disarmament to continue with
greater chances of success. The Conference of the Committee
on Disarmament, meeting at Geneva, will then be
better equipped when it comes to answer the appeal
addressed to it by the Assembly at its twenty-third session —
“to make renewed efforts towards achieving substantial
progress in reaching agreement on the question of general
and complete disarmament under effective international
control” [resolution 2454 B (XXIII)].
It will be possible to count on real progress in the various
fields now being studied.
137. Disarmament is not, however, aimed solely at restoring
mutual understanding among countries which have
hitherto been divided into opposing blocs. It should also
release the vast resources now devoted to military activities
and enable them to do good, especially to all the developing
countries.
138. In a world in which the sole guarantee of peace is
often only a precarious and fragile balance of power, we are
bound to give our full support to the proposal that has been
made to us for a conference on European security. We
think, however, that careful preparation is necessary in
order to ensure at least a minimal chance of success; failure
due to lack of preparation would only widen the rift
between East and West. We remain convinced that such an
undertaking, if well prepared, has every chance of leading
to a détente and, in addition, of laying the foundations of
fruitful collaboration. This conference should not be
approached with the premeditated intent of consolidating
the status quo, of further strengthening the yoke in which
the two blocs confine themselves. We think of it as a release
of power that will lead to the solution of painful and
therefore tension-generating problems such as the division
of Germany. I have said that, besides a détente, we must
seek co-operation between the two camps. The participation
of the new States and a closely knit fabric of economic
and cultural relations should restore the unity of our old
continent, obliterate ideological differences, and replace the
evil policy of selfish and protectionist blocs.
139. For about twenty years the world economy has
known a period of unprecedented growth, and never before
this has the process affected so many countries at the same
time. Above all, since the considerable growth in the
number of Members of our Organization, the close interdependence
between industrialized and less-favoured countries
has stood out more clearly than ever. We are becoming
increasingly aware that the world cannot find balance and
calm and overcome the dangers that threaten it while it is
divided into an affluent minority and a majority of
countries lacking adequate resources.
140. We have within this Organization the experience
gained during the first decade devoted to technical assistance
and pre-investment programmes. We have been preparing
ourselves for some time to put the finishing touches
to the strategy that must be followed in the next ten years,
to give a real meaning to world solidarity, and to translate
into reality our acknowledged collective responsibility
towards the least-privileged peoples.
141. One certainty seems clear enough at the outset. It is
that the material resources made available hitherto are far
short of the vast estimated needs. The gap between the rich
and the poor countries is growing. Should we not ask
ourselves from now on whether the method of pooling our
resources that has always been used in the past is still
adequate to the needs of the future? Can simple voluntary
contributions, not based on real contributive capacity, still
give the expected result?
142. Moreover, our efforts unquestionably lack sufficient
co-ordination and are not integrated into an over-all
rational scheme. Numerous funds and international
bodies — and I am not thinking only of those directly
responsible to the United Nations — have undertaken the
noble task of promoting economic progress; and many
countries give constant bilateral co-operation. All too often,
however, these efforts are fragmentary and isolated. Even if
they do not actually cancel each other out, those of each
giver are unknown to the others; sometimes they overlap
instead of supporting one another. It is therefore necessary
to try to establish a basic co-ordination that will produce
continuous and well-balanced growth.
143. Moreover, this growth should always be aimed at a
realistic and clearly defined target, so as to avoid expressions
of vague hope lacking any real base or content. To
pursue vain fancies would only arouse false hopes which in
the end would be cruelly disappointing. To be content with
past achievements would not meet the urgent needs that we
now know. Mere retrospection is useful only as a source of
lessons for the future.
144. I would not venture to say that what has been done
so far in the First United Nations Development Decade
boils down to. an admission of insolvency. But we are
forced to recognize that praiseworthy intentions are being
expressed in words rather than deeds. We shall not hesitate
to criticize ourselves first, for no industrialized country is
immune from criticism. We are prepared to join other
countries that are our friends in reconsidering the forms of
assistance we give. It seems to me that we must move
towards a new kind of aid, and abandon the old concept of
bilateral aid for a communal strategy. We are proud,
incidentally, of the good results of the aid programme
launched within the European Economic Community. Here
a group of highly-developed States is giving technical and
financial assistance to another, less affluent group. This
undeniably successful experiment deserves to be extended
in such a way as to give an ever-increasing number of
deprived countries a share in world economic progress.
145. It is true that certain counties have regarded our
assistance somewhat askance, considering that the Community’s
effort might shut the third world into a watertight
compartment or even divide the world into certain geographic
zones of influence. Happily events have proved that
this reproach is undeserved, since the number of countries
receiving our assistance has continued to increase. The
recent negotiations leading to the renewal of the Yaoundé
Convention have shown that the member countries of
the European Economic Community were anxious not to
place any obstacle in the way of an effort towards
generalized world aid. We are ready to co-operate with all
countries in this field, whatever their political or economic
systems, and with all international bodies that desire to end
this great scourge of the twentieth century — under-development.
146. Moreover, in this connexion we should ask ourselves
whether the 1 per cent formula for the developed countries’
contribution to the developing countries’ rise in living level
should be regarded as a limit or a minimum. For my part I
am inclined towards the latter view; for there is a great
danger that the countries whose rate of economic growth is
among the highest in the world may shelter behind that
formula and refuse any aid beyond it.
147. Our Organization has placed great hopes in the
system of generalized preferences. We too endorse this
system but do not think that it will produce all the results
expected. It seems to us much more urgent to do
everything possible to speed the conclusion of world
arrangements, product by product, so as to guarantee a
stable income to the developing countries that export raw
materials.
148. The unprecedented exploit achieved this summer by
the United States astronauts when they set foot on the
moon shows us both what man is capable of when he
directs his efforts with determination towards a specific
goal, and also that there is very little in which we cannot
succeed if we really have the political will to place all the
human and material resources of our time at the service of
an idea, or even an ideal.
149. Already our Governments are considering how we
should celebrate next year the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the signing of the Charter at San Francisco. Rather than
confine ourselves to declarations of intent whose results too
often remain platonic, let us resolutely envisage positive
action directed towards the restoration of peace where it is
still not ensured, the implementation of human rights
wherever they are still flouted, and a redoubling of efforts
to bring about development in a spirit of universal solidarity.
150. And yet, now that the United Nations is preparing to
commemorate its twenty-fifth anniversary and we are
wondering what would be the most suitable way of
celebrating that anniversary, I think above all of the
post-war generation, of the same age as the United Nations,
whose keynote is challenge and participation and whose
members, judging us, are wondering anxiously whether we
shall succeed in guaranteeing world peace during the last
quarter of this century. Would it not be appropriate — and I
think it would — for us to take advantage of this anniversary
to examine ourselves, to do as they are doing; and, looking
at our record, ask ourselves in the light of our experience,
our failures and our successes whether everything should
remain fixed in an unchanging mould; whether this Organization,
born of the chaos and marked by the scars of the
Second World War, and certainly revolutionary in its day,
remains, with its original structure and procedures, best
fitted to prepare for the year 2000 or whether, to prove
ourselves worthy of the founders of 1945 and of their ideal,
we should not strive to do more to adapt ourselves to new
conditions at the dawn of the third millennium of our era?