66. Madam President, the
delegation of the Byelorussian SSR would like to congratulate
you on your election as President of the twenty-fourth
session of the United Nations General Assembly, and to
wish you success in guiding the work of the session in the
interests of peace and the observance of the United Nations Charter.
67. We should like to express our sincere condolences in
connexion with the death of the President of the twenty-third
session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Emilio Arenales.
68. The general debate at the annual sessions of the
United Nations General Assembly reflects the approach of
States Members of the Organization to the most important
international problems, draws attention to them and
mobilizes the efforts of the peoples to solve them.
69. All those who speak in the general debate refer to
questions such as the need to end the war against the
Viet-Namese people, to eliminate the consequences of
Israeli aggression in the Middle East and to bring about a
peaceful settlement of all the problems of that region.
Attention is still focused on the questions of the consolidation
of peace and the relaxation of international tension, on
questions of disarmament, the abolition of colonialism and
its consequences and the elimination of nazism and racial
discrimination, and on problems of economic, scientific and
technical co-operation and social progress and many others.
70. The participants in the debate have raised these
questions in different ways and have given different
explanations of them, but no one denies the overriding
need for settling the burning problems of the day. Everyone
acknowledges that the United Nations still has a great deal
to do to strengthen international security.
71. One cannot help wondering, however, why the general
debate as a whole gives so little opportunity for reaching
practical conclusions, for adopting and implementing
agreed decisions. Why do we have to revert again to
problems which should long ago have been settled? In
answer to this question I would like to quote a statement
by the founder of the Soviet State, V.I. Lenin, which is
fully applicable to the present international situation and to
the activities of certain States both in and outside the
Organization. He said:
“It is essential to bear in mind that pacifist phrases, talk
and assurances and sometimes even solemn vows against
war and for peace are extraordinarily common in all parts
of the world, but that in the majority of States — particularly
modern civilized States — a genuine readiness
to take practical steps for peace — even the most simple
ones — is extraordinarily rare.” And Lenin went on to say:
“But what we should like to see in this and in similar
questions is as few general declarations, solemn promises
and high-sounding formulations as possible and as many
very simple and clear decisions and measures as
possible — measures and decisions which would really lead to peace,
not to speak of the total elimination of the danger of war.“
72. The Byelorussian SSR, like the other socialist countries,
considers that the purpose of its policy is to ensure
peace for its own people and for the peoples of other
countries. Our efforts to increase the effectiveness of the
Organization are in line with the objectives of the
peace-loving Leninist foreign policy. On the initiative of the
socialist countries important questions in keeping with the
interests of the peoples — such as the strengthening of
international security, general and complete disarmament,
the conclusion of a convention on the prohibition of the
development, production and stockpiling of chemical and
bacteriological (biological) weapons and on the destruction
of such weapons, the demilitarization of the sea-bed, the
withdrawal of United States and all other foreign forces
occupying South Korea under the flag of the United
Nations, and the dissolution of the so-called United Nations
Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of
Korea — have been included in the agenda of the United Nations.
73. All anti-colonial problems are discussed and settled in
the United Nations in the light of the Declaration on the
Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and
Peoples, which was adopted on the initiative of the Soviet
Union, and in the light of other proposals by the socialist countries.
74. In the sphere of the economic and social activities of
the United Nations, as a result of the implementation of
proposals put forward by the socialist countries, organs
such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development and the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization have been created and are now operating;
problems of the struggle against nazism, apartheid and
racial discrimination are being solved; a declaration on
social progress and development is being prepared; and
principles aimed at protecting the economic interests of the
developing countries are being elaborated.
75. Among problems of international law, a place of
paramount importance is also occupied by proposals of the
socialist countries—such as the proposals for the definition
of aggression and the elaboration of principles of international
law concerning friendly relations and co-operation among
States in accordance with the United Nations Charter.
76. On all these and many other questions, the socialist
countries have been making concrete proposals on the basis
of which constructive decisions have repeatedly beer taken.
Any objective observer taking stock of the work of the
United Nations over the last quarter of a century will
undoubtedly come to the conclusion that the countries of
the socialist commonwealth have made a great contribution
to the activities of the United Nations during that period.
77. While noting the positive results achieved by the
United Nations, we must at the same time frankly state that
we are not satisfied by every aspect of its activities, and
that it can and must become a more effective instrument of
peace and international co-operation. The achievements of
the Organization should merely be regarded rather as an
indication of its possibilities for fulfilling the purposes for
which it was created. And we shall do everything in our
power to ensure that the activities of the United Nations
are, to the maximum possible extent, directed towards the
strengthening of peace and co-operation on a basis of
equality, and towards compliance by all Member States
with the United Nations Charter.
78. The experience of many years shows that the diplomacy
of Western countries resorts to all manner of verbal
manoeuvres to force through its bankrupt policy, to invest
it with a superficial glitter, to divert the attention of the
world public from the criminal acts of imperialism and to
bury the essential problems under a hear of questions and
proposals of secondary importance. We have been observing
this at the present session too. Let us take, for example, the
problems of Viet-Nam and the Middle East.
79. The United States of America and its partners in the
war against the Viet-Namese people — which even The
Times, organ of the British monopolists, recently described
as “dirty” — are seeking to paralyse the joint efforts of the
anti-imperialist forces in their struggle for the total cessation
of the aggression against the Viet-Namese people. We
hear them say that they are “ready to withdraw all their
armed forces”, that they are defending the right of the
people of South Viet-Nam “to determine its future independently
and without foreign interference” — and similar
high-sounding phrases. And at the same time war is being
waged in Viet-Nam by a United States army of more than
half a million men and about 70,000 troops from their
partners in aggression. But when it comes to the question of
the withdrawal of forces, reference is made only to 60,000
men, and the ambiguous English word “replacement” — which
can mean either withdrawal, or substitution or the
transfer of troops — is used instead of a plain, clear word
meaning unconditional withdrawal of troops. And on the
basis of all this, the argument is put forward that everything
now depends on the other side. Everybody knows that this
war has nothing to do with the interests of the United
States soldiers who are dying there and that it has not been
engendered by the interests of the security of the United
States and its partners in aggression. Unilateral declarations
of so-called obligations do not create any basis in international
law for intervention in the affairs of other peoples,
and cannot deprive the people of Viet-Nam of the right to
fight against the aggressors and decide its own destiny as it sees fit.
80. Last year, thanks to the efforts of many countries in
the United Nations and elsewhere, it was possible to bring
about the cessation of United States air raids on the
territory of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and to
begin negotiations in Paris. The time has now come for even
greater efforts to achieve the total cessation of the
aggression against the Viet-Namese people, and to demand
the unconditional withdrawal of United States forces from
Viet-Nam so as genuinely to create conditions in which that
long-suffering people can determine its future without
outside interference and can engage in peaceful creative
work. In view of this, we consider that speakers from this
rostrum who have not taken a clear stand on this question,
and have merely talked about the desirability of a peaceful
settlement and have expatiated on what they describe as
the equal responsibility of both sides, are in actual fact
playing into the hands of the aggressor. Such statements
give the aggressor an excuse to ignore public opinion, and
do not contribute to a settlement of the Viet-Nam problem
because they do not contain a condemnation of aggression
and do not make a distinction between the aggressor and
the victim of aggression.
81. The Byelorussian SSR supports the people of Viet-Nam
and is providing assistance to them; it hopes for the
triumph of their just struggle and advocates a settlement of
the Viet-Nam problem on the basis of the position of the
Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the Provisional
Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South
Viet-Nam — a position which is fully in line with the Geneva
Agreements of 1954 and offers a genuine basis for a
political settlement.
82. The same thing must be said about the question of the
liquidation of Israeli aggression against the Arab States.
Here in the United Nations, the sponsors of Israeli
aggression advocate in their statements a political settlement
and speak of the inadmissibility of sending military
supplies to countries of the Middle East; but at the same
time, displaying extraordinary liberality, they bow before
the aggressor and supply arms to Israel which is continuing
its aggressive policy and openly sabotaging the decisions of
the United Nations. The only way of contributing to a
peaceful political settlement in the Middle East is to adopt
a position decisively condemning Israel’s aggression, to take
concrete measures aimed at the withdrawal of the occupying
forces from the Arab territories which have been seized,
and to give effect to the other provisions of the Security
Council resolution of 22 November 1967 [242 (1967)].
83. The United Nations cannot ignore Israel’s direct
defiance of Security Council resolutions which it is required
to comply with in virtue of its obligations under the United
Nations Charter. Since the cessation of the war in the
Middle East, the Security Council and other United Nations
organs have adopted more than a score of resolutions on
different aspects of the settlement of the situation in the
Middle East. These resolutions have played a positive role,
because they have condemned Israel’s aggressive acts and
have in many cases constituted a barrier to further
extremist steps by Israeli ruling circles; they have laid the
foundations for a political settlement in the Middle East
and have emphasized the concern of the United Nations at
the situation of the Arab population in the occupied territories.
84. But the most important thing has not yet been
achieved: the aggressor has not yet been rejected from the
territories he has seized; he is continuing to disregard the
principles of the United Nations Charter, and he is to blame
for the fact that the tension in the Middle East persists.
85. We note with satisfaction the constructive position of
the Arab States and the ever-increasing support for their
just demands by the overwhelming majority of the States
Members of the United Nations.
86. We note, as a positive aspect of the work of this
session of the United Nations General Assembly, the fact
that no one has endorsed any of the arguments put forward
by Israeli diplomats in favour of continuing the occupation
and revising the frontiers. Even the sponsors of Israel’s
aggression in the Middle East hesitate to defend Israel’s
position openly. Such ridiculous proposals as that of the
Israeli Foreign Minister to proclaim United Nations Day as
a “cease-fire day” are regarded by the majority as a
mockery of the purposes of the United Nations since
nobody can even entertain the idea that Israel, or any other
aggressor, will be permitted to commit aggressive acts for
364 days in exchange for a promise to refrain from opening
fire on one day in the year.
87. The United Nations car, and must do everything in its
power to put the aggressor in his place and settle the
conflict in the Middle East in accordance with the Security
Council’s resolution, and not allow it to develop into a new
armed clash which would have extremely serious consequences
for the cause of universal peace.
88. The Byelorussian SSR is one of the co-sponsors of the
items on the agenda concerning the withdrawal of United
States and all other foreign forces occupying South Korea
under the flag of the United Nations and the dissolution of
the so-called United Nations Commission for the Unification
and Rehabilitation of Korea. These proposals are
designed to eliminate one of the hotbeds of tension in the
Far East and to protect the inalienable right of the Korean
people to live without foreign occupation and without
imperialist intervention in its domestic affairs.
89. Implementation of these proposals will open the way
to peaceful unification of the country on a democratic basis
and will enable the people of South Korea to decide its
destiny for itself, instead of being the instrument of other
people’s policies. We appeal to all States to approach these
proposals with a full sense of responsibility, and to scrap
the discriminatory practice whereby, for the benefit of the
foreign occupiers of South Korea, the General Assembly is
deprived of the right even of hearing the representatives of
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and is unable
to formulate concrete measures in keeping with the
interests of the Korean people and the cause of preserving
peace in that troubled part of our planet.
90. Actively continuing its struggle for the elimination of
hotbeds of tension and settlement of conflicts, the Soviet
Union together with the other socialist countries is taking
clear-cut and concrete measures to strengthen universal
peace. This is indicated by the item proposed by the Soviet
Union on the strengthening of international security, and
by the text of the appeal to all the States of the world on
this question [A/7654]. This document, which we fully
support, contains such important measures as:
the withdrawal of troops from territories occupied as a
result cf action by the armed forces of some States against
other States and peoples defending the independence they
have won as a result of the collapse of the colonial system,
and their territorial integrity;
the cessation of all measures for the suppression of the
liberation movements of the peoples still under colonial
rule and the granting of independence to all such peoples;
observance by States of the decisions of the Security
Council on the withdrawal of occupation troops from
foreign territories; and
the study of the question of effective regional security
systems in the various parts of the world with a view to
adopting measures for their establishment.
91. In the appeal it is proposed that all States of the world
in their international relations should strictly abide by the
principles of peaceful coexistence of States irrespective of
their social systems — the principles of sovereignty, equality
and territorial inviolability to each State, non-interference
in internal affairs and respect for the rights of all peoples
freely to choose their social system. The appeal envisages a
number of other important measures which open the way
to the adoption of agreed decisions which will contribute to
the strengthening of international security.
92. In supporting these proposals, we know that the
appeal addressed to all States of the world — both Members
of the United Nations and States which are not Members or
which, for one reason or another, do not take part in its
work — is bound to meet with understanding and support.
93. At the present time, the interests of the cause of peace
and the existing situation call for unity of action by all the
anti-imperialist forces, whose positions in the United
Nations are continually being strengthened. We appeal to all
States which support peace, and are striving to enhance the
role of the United Nations in questions of international
security, actively to join with the socialist countries in
working for the adoption of the appeal addressed to all
States of the world on the strengthening of international
security. Such an appeal, on the eve of the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the United Nations, would enhance the
authority of the United Nations in the eyes of the peoples
of the world, and provide a good basis for its further
activities in accordance with the fundamental purposes and
principles of the Charter.
94. A positive solution to this problem would certainly
represent an advance from the period of confrontation to a
period of negotiation; it would also contribute to a more
fruitful consideration of many other questions, including
the whole complex of disarmament problems.
95. Questions of disarmament must be given their due
place at the present session of the General Assembly. The
time has come to move onward from mere verbal support
of the idea of disarmament to practical action. Politicians
and military figures who refuse to understand the complete
senselessness of the continuing arms race which is already
swallowing up more than $200,000 million a year, those
who are against the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII)], who are
against general and complete disarmament, against the
prohibition of the use and production of chemical and
bacteriological weapons, are assuming a very heavy responsibility
towards mankind.
96. We are all expecting results from the work of the
Committee on Disarmament whose membership has been
enlarged this year. The Soviet Union in that committee has
introduced a number of modified proposals and now we
have a right to expect that, this time, the Western countries
will not go back on their word but will open the way for
the elaboration and submission of agreed decisions on the
cessation of the arms race and on disarmament.
97. The delegation of the Byelorussian SSR welcomes the
evidence of agreement in the Disarmament Committee
concerning a treaty on the prohibition of the emplacement
of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction
on the sea-bed and the ocean floor and in the subsoil
thereof.
98. We regard that treaty as an important step towards
ensuring that the sea-bed and the ocean floor — which
occupy five sevenths of the surface of the planet — are
excluded from the arms race, and as a step towards a treaty
on general and complete disarmament, and also as the
implementation of one of the proposals put forward by the
socialist countries in recent years.
99. Tirelessly continuing its efforts in the struggle for
disarmament, the group of socialist countries - including the
Byelorussian SSR — has submitted for consideration by the
present session of the General Assembly an item entitled
“Conclusion of a convention on the prohibition of the
development, production and stockpiling of chemical and
bacteriological (biological) weapons and on the destruction
of such weapons”. We note with satisfaction that this new
initiative, aimed at excluding these barbaric weapons of
mass destruction from the military arsenals of States, finds
support among many States Members of the United Nations.
100. The General Assembly has acted wisely in adopting a
decision to include the question of chemical and bacteriological
weapons as a separate item on the agenda, thus
rejecting the attempts of certain Western countries in the
General Committee to belittle the importance of this
initiative by the socialist countries, which is aimed at the
strengthening of peace and the maintenance of the security of peoples.
101. Since its foundation, the Byelorussian SSR has
always been and still is on the side of the peoples fighting
for their national liberation. This position is determined by
the principles of Leninist national policy, and is based on
an understanding of the importance of the contribution
made by the national liberation movement to the world
revolutionary process.
102. Lenin’s prophecy that “... the period of the awakening
of the East to the revolutionary movement of our time
will be followed by the period when all the peoples of the
East take part in deciding the fate of the whole world and
cease to be merely a means for the enrichment of others“
is now coming true.
103. The most important result characterizing the success
of the anti-imperialist national liberation struggle is the
emergence of more than 70 young national States in Asia,
Africa and Latin America, on the ruins of tottering colonial
empires.
104. Colonialism, however, has not yet been entirely
eliminated and the colonizers still hold some of their
Overseas possessions. The South African and Southern
Rhodesian racists and the Portuguese colonialists are still
keeping the indigenous population of the Republic of
South Africa, Namibia, Southern Rhodesia, Angola,
Mozambique and Guinea (Bissau) in the chains of colonial
Slavery. It is perfectly clear that they could not possibly
maintain their colonial domination over other peoples were
it not for the assistance and support of the United States,
the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany and
other Western countries.
105. A consistent stand by all freedom-loving States will
contribute to the elimination of the last remnants of
colonialism as quickly as possible. For this, however,
determined efforts are required, and not pious wishes or
hopes that a change of government in the colonial country
will change the nature of its colonial policy. What we need
are concrete decisions and measures, which are addressed to
those who are directly responsible for the maintenance of
colonial slavery — the Governments and monopolies of the
Western countries — and not general appeals addressed to no
one in particular.
106. The General Assembly must demand, from each
colonial Power, immediate and unconditional implementation
of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to
Colonial Countries and Peoples, and also implementation of
United Nations decisions calling for the cessation of the
harmful activities of international monopolies in colonial
territories and for the elimination of military bases in those
territories. Only the unconditional implementation of the
Declaration and other anti-colonial decisions of the United
Nations will make it possible to celebrate in a worthy
manner the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the
Declaration, which falls in December of next year.
107. In view of the failure of the colonialists to fulfil their
obligations under the United Nations Charter concerning
the economic and social advancement of Trust and
Non-Self-Governing Territories, and as a result of the
neo-colonialist policy of plundering and exploitation, the young
developing countries are faced with difficult economic
problems. For us, it is fully understandable that these
problems are being raised in the United Nations. But they
must be closely linked with the basic task of the United
Nations — the strengthening of peace and international security.
It is no good counting on the possibility of solving
problems of economic development without at the same
time working for the strengthening of peace and international
security and for general and complete disarmament.
It is also a mistake to suppose that the United
Nations can elaborate effective measures for the elimination
of the economic backwardness of the developing countries
without taking into account the interests and the position
of the socialist countries — the sincere friends of the peoples
of the young independent States.
108. Last year, unfortunately, some representatives of the
developing countries did not appreciate that fact, with the
result that an unpromising committee was set up to prepare
a programme for the Second Development Decade — it
was set up with a composition which made it impossible for
the socialist countries, including the Byelorussian SSR, to
take part within the framework of that committee in the
elaboration of a realistic programme for protecting the
economic interests of the young independent States, for
establishing and practising equitable and mutually advantageous
relations in international trade and co-operation,
and for providing assistance in the implementation of
genuine national development plans in the interests of the
people and not for the enrichment of exploiters abroad and at home.
109. Thirty years have elapsed since the beginning of the
Second World War, but the years cannot efface the memory
of 1 September 1939 — that black day in the history of
mankind — from the minds of the peoples. Dozens of States
and hundreds of millions of people were drawn into the
abyss of the Second World War unleashed by German
fascism, which had been reared by the forces of imperialism.
Many people, and above all those who have directly
experienced the dire consequences of Hitlerite invasion, ask
themselves how it could happen that fascist Germany
should have been able to plunge mankind into a destructive
war in which more than 50 million people perished; were
there not forces and possibilities for checking the aggressor
in time and preventing the conflagration of a world war?
110. There were indeed such forces and possibilities.
During the pre-war years the Soviet Union repeatedly made
proposals for the establishment of a collective security
system in Europe which would have constituted a serious
obstacle to those bent on military adventures. Unfortunately
the Governments of the Western countries preferred
at that time to take another course — the course of connivance
with and “appeasement” of the aggressor, of flirting
with him and concluding secret deals and agreements
behind the backs of the peoples in order to direct Hitler’s
aggression towards the East. Everyone knows the results of
that shortsighted policy.
111. Next year, the peoples of Europe and of the whole
world will celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
defeat of the fascist aggressors, which made it possible to
create the United Nations, with the basic purpose of
maintaining peace and strengthening international security.
112. In July of this year, the Byelorussian people
solemnly celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
liberation of the Byelorussian SSR from German fascist
tyranny. A quarter of a century ago, the last salvos of one
of the most gigantic battles of the war sounded and died
away. Liberation came to our towns and villages — the
liberation in which we believed, for which we had fought
and which was won at the price of tremendous sacrifices,
by unprecedented feats of arms and labour.
113. In July we once again paid due tribute to the heroic
feats of the whole Soviet people which rid mankind of that
black plague. We took stock of the results of peaceful
construction and we found that, as a result of the labour of
our people working in fraternal co-operation with all the
peoples of the USSR, an unprecedented growth in all
sectors of the economy — and rise in the standard of living of
the people — have been achieved. It is sufficient to say that
the industrial output of the Republic has increased by more
than 10 times compared with the pre-war period and by
more than 100 times compared with what we had to start
with after the liberation of the Byelorussian land, which
had been devastated by the fascists during the occupation years.
114. The Byelorussian people cherishes the memory of
those who fell in the struggle against fascism. For us, this
was every fourth one of the Republic’s inhabitants. We have
set up a memorial on the site of the former village of Katyn
which, like Lidice in Czechoslovakia and Oradour in
France, was annihilated by the Hitlerites with all its
inhabitants. In our Republic, hundreds of villages shared
the fate of Katyn. Their blood-drenched soil is preserved in
urns at the Katyn memorial. This is a memorial to the
hundreds of villages burnt to the ground together with their
inhabitants, and to thousands of other towns and villages
which were laid waste and destroyed—a memorial to all the
victims of fascist terror on Byelorussian territory.
115. We cannot forget — we do not have the right to forget
the tragedy of Katyn. We remember and will never forget
the words carved on the granite of the common grave at
Katyn: “Remember, good people: we loved life and our
Fatherland and you, our dear friends. We were burned alive
in the fire. Our appeal to all of you is: Let grief and sorrow
be transformed into courage and strength so that you can
perpetuate peace and tranquillity on earth, so that life will
never again, anywhere, be destroyed in the whirlwind of
fire“. This testament is addressed to the peoples of the
whole world. As far as the people of Byelorussia is
concerned, it will do everything in its power to carry out
this behest.
116. The Byelorussian SSR attaches great importance to
the problem of European security and cannot remain
indifferent to what is now occurring in that part of the
world. There are more than enough causes for anxiety for
our country and for other peace-loving countries. Many
countries of Western Europe are once more entangled in the
meshes of closed military and political alliances, with the
aggressive NATO block playing the most sinister role of
them all. Massive armed forces - including forces from
oversea countries — are being concentrated and built up in
the centre of Europe. Thousands of nuclear warheads are
stocked in atomic arsenals. In the Federal Republic of
Germany there are forces which refuse to recognize the
results of the Second World War and the existing frontiers
in Europe, and which are encroaching upon the sovereignty
and independence of the German Democratic Republic. In
Western Germany, neo-nazism is raising its head and has
already openly stated its claim to participate in the
determination of the internal and foreign policies of that
country. The Federal Republic of Germany has not yet
acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
117. All this obliges us now, before it is too late, to take
measures to prevent any repetition of the past and to
guarantee lasting peace in Europe. The realistic way of
doing this is to create a collective security system in
Europe. The Soviet Union and the other socialist countries
have repeatedly put forward proposals aimed at ensuring a
lasting peace. A concrete programme of action and measures
for creating a collective security system have been
outlined at the meetings of the States members of the
Warsaw Pact held at Bucharest in 1966, and at Budapest in
1969, and also by the Karlovy Vary Conference in 1967.
The appeal of the Warsaw Pact countries to all European
countries, adopted on 17 March 1969 at Budapest, and
calling for the convening of an all-European meeting on
security questions, is in keeping with the vital interests and
cherished aspirations of all the peoples of Europe. The
Byelorussian SSR highly appreciates the important and
useful initiative of Finland on the starting of practical
preparations for an all-European meeting. We welcome the
statement by the Foreign Ministers of the Scandinavian
countries made at the meeting at Reykjavik in September
1969, and also the statements by a number of European
representatives during the general debate in the General
Assembly supporting the proposal of the States members of
the Warsaw Pact for the convening of a conference on
questions of European security.
118. The holding of such a conference would be a valuable
contribution to the strengthening of peace and security in
Europe and to the development of all-European co-operation.
Such a conference would help to transform Europe
into a continent of peace, would have a favourable effect
on the whole international situation and would point the
way to the solution of many complex problems.
119. The Byelorussian SSR has always opposed and will
continue to oppose the policy of militarism and revanchism,
fascism and neo-nazism. All militarists, revanchists and
neo-nazis would long ago have understood that the State
frontiers in Europe, including the Oder-Neisse frontier and
the frontier between the Federal Republic of Germany and
the German Democratic Republic, are unchangeable. They
should long ago have recognized such an immutable fact as
the existence of the socialist German Democratic Republic
which for the past 20 years has been consistently pursuing a
peace-loving policy and which constitutes a stable factor for
peace in Europe.
120. It is essential to recognize and give effect to the right
of the German Democratic Republic to become a member
of the United Nations and other international organizations
on the same footing as the Federal Republic of Germany. It
is essential to abandon the discriminatory practice imposed
by the imperialist Powers back in the cold war years,
whereby the German Democratic Republic is not allowed
to take part in the work of international organizations or to
become a party to international agreements and conventions.
121. In conclusion, we wish to stress again that today, as
never before, what is needed is decisive action aimed at
normalizing the international situation and curbing the
imperialist forces which constitute the principal threat to
peace and security.
122. One of the most important political events in this
sense was the International Conference of Communist and
Workers’ Parties held in Moscow in June 1969. The basic
document of the Conference stresses that the main link
between the common activities of the anti-imperialistic
forces is the struggle against the danger of war — the danger
of a world-wide thermonuclear war which continues to
threaten the peoples of the world with mass destruction — and
the struggle for peace throughout the world.
123. Our country’s peace-loving foreign policy is based on
the principles elaborated by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin — the
centenary of whose birth the whole Soviet people and all
progressive mankind are now preparing to celebrate.
124. This policy has played, is playing and will continue
to play an important role in the common struggle of the
anti-imperialist forces and in the strengthening of the power
and solidarity of the commonwealth of socialist countries;
it will serve as an effective instrument for thwarting the
aggressive plans of imperialism, for maintaining peace and
consolidating the principles of the peaceful coexistence of
States with different social systems, and for supporting the
liberation struggle of the peoples.