“United in diversity”:
this motto of the European Union expresses what we,
the 25 — and soon to be 27 — member States of the
European Union, demand from ourselves, as well as
our aspirations for the United Nations. “United in
diversity” is also a concrete management principle of
our practical, everyday work to promote justice, peace,
freedom and prosperity. As the host country to the only
United Nations headquarters within the European
Union, as President of the European Union during the
first six months of 2006 and as a venue for the dialogue
of religions and cultures, Austria has consistently
aimed at translating this principle into practice,
including by providing peacekeepers, despite recent
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bitter experiences such as the tragic death of Major
Hans-Peter Lang while he was serving the United
Nations in southern Lebanon.
By establishing the Human Rights Council in
Geneva and the Peacebuilding Commission, we have
given ourselves new instruments for carrying out an
important part of our work in this phase of United
Nations reform. Austria thanks Jan Eliasson, President
of the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, for his
vision, tenacity and endurance. We owe it to his
negotiating skills that institutional reform of the United
Nations has been decisively set in motion. We pledge
to devote the necessary determination to the reform
measures that still need to be implemented, such as
management reform, the review of United Nations
mandates and the establishment of a rule of law
assistance unit.
Today, after decades of division, Europe is
growing together again. That is the major achievement
of the European Union. We have come a long way. The
iron curtain is a relic of the past. Today, we want the
countries of South-East Europe and the Balkans to take
their rightful place in Europe and to be included in the
reunification process of our continent. The European
experience is, profoundly, an experience of overcoming
old and bitter conflicts and of the power of patient and
peaceful transformation.
Here, I wish to welcome to the General Assembly
the newest European member and the 192nd Member
of the United Nations, the Republic of Montenegro.
In Europe, difficult issues need to be solved.
Tomorrow, the Security Council will discuss the future
status of Kosovo. Austria supports the efforts of
President Martti Ahtisaari and his team in Vienna. As
neighbours and friends, we urge both Belgrade and
Pristina to engage in these negotiations constructively,
in a results-oriented manner and with the necessary
sense of realism. Our goal is a democratic and multi-
ethnic Kosovo whose citizens can all live in security
and dignity on the basis of mutual trust. In the same
spirit, a confident, peaceful and prosperous Serbia,
fully integrated into the family of European nations, is
crucial for the stability of the whole region.
In the Middle East, innocent civilians still suffer
from the disastrous consequences of terror attacks and
the indiscriminate use of force. Men, women and
children on all sides must be given a real chance to live
in peace and in an atmosphere of increasing mutual
trust.
The goal that Austria pursues in its relations with
the Middle East is to realize the vision of Palestinians
and Israelis living side by side in security as
neighbours in two States, working towards a peaceful
and economically successful common future. We know
that the path towards that goal is rocky, but now we
have reached a turning point. In the aftermath of the
armed conflict in Lebanon, all parties in the region
have agreed on the need for renewed engagement on
the part of the international community. The European
Union and its member States can and will make a
substantive contribution.
However, international efforts can only
support — not serve as a substitute for — efforts by
Israel and the Palestinians. That is why we welcome
the efforts of President Abbas to form a Government of
national unity in the Palestinian territories and the
recent high-level, direct contacts. Yesterday’s statement
by the Middle East Quartet — in which the United
Nations plays such a central role — is another
encouraging signal. We hope that those decisions will
help to alleviate the plight of the Palestinian people
and to move the political process forward.
Austria is convinced that the work of the Middle
East Quartet should now pave the way towards a major
peace initiative. We see great merit in an international
Middle East conference along the lines of the 1991
Madrid Conference. We believe that such a forum
should be open to regional partners willing to
participate constructively in search of a comprehensive
peace settlement. A conference of that kind could also
examine the longer-term potential for regional security
arrangements.
As the Secretary-General has rightly pointed out,
Africa must remain one of our main priorities. In
particular, we must engage to prevent a humanitarian
catastrophe in Darfur. It is simply unacceptable that not
even relief agencies are given access to help those most
in need. It is deeply disturbing that there is no clear
perspective for an end to fighting and suffering in the
region. As many others, we urgently call upon the
Government of the Sudan to accept the deployment of
a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur without
delay.
Austria is deeply aware of the need for the
dialogue of cultures and religions. This is because my
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country lies at the crossroads of many different
cultures, at the heart of a continent marked by centuries
of dividing lines. Our own difficult experience has
certainly taught us that mutual tolerance and respect
are universal values, which we must all uphold and that
religious beliefs, by their very nature, must never be
misused to justify violence.
In view of our own experience, we are also
convinced that the dialogue of religions and cultures is
not a challenge confined only to the international field;
this dialogue begins at home, within our own societies.
Here, as well as at the global level, “United in
diversity” must be our guiding principle. We have to
keep our work down to earth. We have to find answers
on how best to organize living together and provide
orientation in a rapidly globalizing world that many
regard as a menace. Ultimately, it is in the work place,
at school, in defining the role of women in society, in
seeking to create opportunities for young people and in
the media that we decide about the outcome of the
dialogue of cultures in real-life terms.
I am therefore convinced that we must better
integrate the dialogue of religions and cultures in the
everyday work of the United Nations. This is a topic
that we cannot leave to the street. The minefield of
collective emotions is not a good place to discuss
questions of belief. Complex feelings of frustration,
humiliation and neglect can erupt in violence at the
slightest trigger. In a world where connections are
established by a single mouse click, reactions arrive
within minutes. Here, we need to counteract on the
basis of our common values, in full conformity with
universal human rights and basic freedoms, as they are
the very foundation of our work here at the United
Nations.
In the 61 years of the United Nations, this is only
the third time that a woman has presided over the
General Assembly, and the first woman to do so
coming from the Arab world. While we congratulate
her personally on her election to this high position,
Austria also regards this election as a signal to all
women in the world: the time has come for women to
take their rightful place in all spheres of public life. We
are called upon to engage politically at all levels, from
the community level to the United Nations. The voices
of women need to be heard more clearly in the work of
the United Nations. Women know what holds families,
communities and societies together. This age-old
knowledge in all its modern variety and colour should
not be left untapped, in particular in peace processes.
In United Nations missions, at the negotiation table, in
decision-making processes and not only as voices in
the background. During its presidency of the European
Union, Austria, in its recruitment strategy, consistently
aimed at deploying women in European Union peace
missions. In addition, we elaborated guidelines for
European Union missions on how to best comply with
the special needs of children.
In his address to the General Assembly at its 10th
meeting, on 19 September, the Secretary-General
rightly said, “It is shameful that last year’s Summit
Outcome does not contain even one word about non-
proliferation and disarmament”. Austria calls for a
renewed commitment of the international community
to these security goals. We also offer to host the next
preparatory meeting for the Review Conference of the
Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons in Vienna in the spring of 2007.
Development and the preservation of our
livelihoods require sustainable solutions. Among the
great global challenges we are facing is climate
change. Global warming is real. Austria is committed
to do her part in combating it. However, in Austria’s
view, nuclear energy is not the right answer; it bears
too many risks and uncertainties to be regarded as a
safe and sustainable source of energy.
Solidarity is at the heart of the United Nations:
solidarity with the poor, the weak and the powerless.
Here, the United Nations task list for the coming years
is rich with promise: achieving the Millennium
Development Goals in full, concluding the Doha
Development Round, fighting against hunger, disease,
poverty and exclusion.
On Tuesday, we launched the United Nations
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy with a clear
message: the international community is united against
this scourge of humanity. We will not tolerate terrorism
in any form or manifestation. And we will redouble our
efforts to dry up the breeding grounds from which
terrorism feeds itself. Let me in this context point out
the excellent work of the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime in Vienna, with its Global
Programme against Terrorism, in delivering technical
assistance to Member States.
It is out of respect for diversity and in recognition
of the need for unity that Austria has presented its
candidature for a non-permanent seat on the Security
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Council for the period 2009-2010. With this in mind,
we have made the rule of law the backbone of our
candidature.
Let me close by conveying Austria’s appreciation
for the great personality who has been standing at the
helm of this Organization for the past decade, for Kofi
Annan, the statesman and the person. We thank the
Secretary-General, in particular for being a tireless
encourager, despite the considerable obstacles he has
had to face at times. He is a role model for dignity and
confidence. He is always ready to speak out, in his soft
but firm voice, for those whose voices are not strong
enough or loud enough to be heard; to give voice to the
weak, the poor, the small and those who feel lost or
abandoned. Mr. Secretary-General, the world will
continue listening to your voice as it is the voice of
hope and steadfastness.