Andorra, 1994

Your election,

Sir, to the presidency of the forty-ninth session of the

Assembly marks an important moment for your country,

Côte d’Ivoire, and for the entire African continent. I have

the honour to convey to you the warmest wishes of the

people and Government of Andorra. I also take this

opportunity to express appreciation of the great

accomplishments of your predecessor, Ambassador

Insanally.

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I am speaking before you here only a few hours

before the official opening of the Permanent Mission of the

Principality of Andorra to the United Nations, the first

diplomatic Mission of Andorra anywhere in the world.

This Permanent Mission is the embodiment of the will of

the Andorran people to participate actively in the

implementation of the ideals of the United Nations Charter.

On the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding

of this Organization, our Mission will work towards the

achievement of important goals. For one thing, it will

make careful preparation for the World Summit on Social

Development to be held in Copenhagen. The objectives of

that Summit - namely, to find ways to reduce poverty,

enhance employment opportunities and strengthen social

integration - are particularly important in relation to the

new possibilities for development under consideration by

the Secretary-General in his "Agenda for Development".

For another thing, Andorra will take part, with the greatest

interest, in the work of the Third Committee, whose

activities support our historic devotion to respect for human

rights. I wish also to take this opportunity to acknowledge

the commendable work of the new United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights, Ambassador Ayala Lasso.

As president of the United States, John Fitzgerald

Kennedy stood before the Berlin Wall and pronounced that

famous phrase, "Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a Berliner").

And for people everywhere in the world who listened to

him on that historic occasion, the word "Berliner" was

understood to mean "a defender of freedom".

For those countries whose culture expresses itself in

the Catalan language, a similar moment has become equally

historic. I speak of the day when the distinguished

musician and universally recognized artist Paul "Pablo"

Casals boldly affirmed, here at the General Assembly of the

United Nations, before Secretary-General U Thant: "I am

Catalan". Everyone understood immediately that, with

these words, he was beginning a song of liberty and

declaring himself to be the son of a people filled with

respect for others, a people who had created one of the

oldest parliamentary and democratic systems in the world,

as he stated in his dedication to the cause of peace. Let us

remember that the hymn of the United Nations, the Hymn

to Peace, is his work, and that it was played for the first

time, with lyrics by the poet W. H. Auden, on

27 October 1971.

Allow me today to humbly join two such important

and respected figures and proclaim, in the same spirit and

with the same passion, "I am an Andorran". And I hope

that this expression will have the same meaning for you

as the earlier assertions, and not seem to be a childish and

self-centred show of pride, for throughout the centuries

our ancient and small State has always demonstrated its

love of freedom, its will to contribute to balance and

harmony, and its concern to maintain peace.

It has been a little more than a year since Andorra

became a Member of the United Nations, following the

approval of our Constitution and the full adaptation of our

model of statehood to that befitting a State under modern

law. Because of this, and because of the fact that we are

the last of the four small, historically independent

European States - the others being Liechtenstein, San

Marino and Monaco - to have become Members of the

United Nations, it seems that this is an appropriate

occasion on which to reflect on the possible contributions

of micro-States to the family of nations.

It is evident that in a world in which great

operations must be performed on a grand scale, the

simple fact of our existence might appear anachronistic or

irrelevant. Indeed, at a time when the establishment of

the World Trade Organization points towards the end of

protectionism, and the North American Free Trade

Agreement, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Council, and the European Union herald the creation of

large areas in which there is free circulation of goods and

services, one might well question the need for the

continued existence of a number of small States which

often find themselves surrounded, as in our case, by large

supranational entities such as the European Union.

Yet I believe that as we move towards integration,

it becomes more than ever necessary to respect and

preserve the identities of micro-States. It is clear that

these identities are not measured in terms of size, nor do

they allow for the subordination of a minority within a

majority, of a smaller collective identity within another

that is demographically larger.

As democracy consists of government by the

majority and the respect of minorities, on the international

stage the politics of large blocs and of great Powers must

be compatible with the recognition of groups which,

though smaller, must not be relegated in any way to a

status that is discriminatory nor must they be considered

less than what they are.

It is evident that all small States - and probably a

quarter of those represented here are small States in one

way or another - have clear limitations. It is evident also

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that the contribution of great Powers to the establishment

and the preservation of world order is, and must be,

decisive. But it is also true that, beyond their limitations,

small States have qualities that humanity cannot do without,

especially at the present time when many peace and

reconciliation processes have not been resolved and remain

in need of great generosity, comprehension, tolerance and

a will to compromise.

By their very nature, micro-States must, in an intrinsic

and essential way, have respect for diversity and mutual

harmony. Precisely because of their small size, they have

learned in the long course of history that durable solutions

cannot be imposed, and that the core of the differences

cannot be eliminated. More powerful States can gain useful

knowledge from their experience, built upon a wisdom that

only centuries can provide. This is even more pertinent

today, when the great Powers have begun to show a certain

self-restraint, having discovered that while the use of force

might postpone a conflict, it cannot be the basis for a

lasting solution. May the great Powers of the world be

guided by the rules of conduct that micro-States have been

compelled to adopt, and may the necessity of the small be

the virtue of the large. To propose rather than impose, to

negotiate rather than to compel, to discuss rather than

dictate, to reconcile rather than radicalize, to respect rather

than humiliate, to cooperate rather than exploit, and to

refrain rather than abuse: those are the rules of conduct

dear to the small States, characteristics which appear to be

increasingly necessary in many regions of our planet, if

what we want is for the people of the world to live together

in dignity and fight together against hunger, poverty,

disease and the negative effects of the demographic

explosion.

It is for this reason, that I venture to call the attention

of the members of the Assembly to the virtues of the

micro-States and to ask them to consider whether they

might not make them their own. It is simply a question of

the great nations making an imaginative effort to put

themselves in the place of those who possess neither

military power nor human and economic resources to

impose on others, and consequently to realize that problems

may be approached in another way, with probably better

guarantees for a successful outcome.

This approach finds its origin in the strictest respect

for the identity of others, of their collective personality and

all the features that contribute to it, as well as their culture;

for culture is always an element of integration. And it is

precisely the balance of cultures and their interaction which

is the basis for peaceful coexistence, which is in itself

considerable, and even more for a cordial and fraternal

life together. Let us therefore forget the worries of

assimilation and the belief in the superiority of the

majority, and let us try to organize life together with

mutual respect, something that becomes increasingly

important in a world under great pressure from

demographic change and immigration.

Allow me to refer to my country, the Principality of

Andorra, which with a population of only 61,000

inhabitants has three different educational systems -

Andorran, French, and Spanish - three quarters of its

population being immigrants, and a small territory stuck

like an island in the middle of the European Union. And

I believe that a study of some of the balances that exist in

Andorra might be useful to efforts in southern Africa, in

the Middle East, or in other parts of Europe and the

world where people are struggling to bring about peace.

Think, likewise, of the great worries of our times,

where the drug trafficking and organized crime have led

to a dramatic deterioration in urban safety. Members

might agree with me that the affirmation "small is

beautiful" might appear excessive, but it nevertheless

guarantees a level of security far greater than that which

exists in the enormous urban conurbations of more

developed countries.

I should like further to call the Assembly’s attention

to the urgency of the task of protecting the environment,

and the defence of nature. Members might agree with me

that a smaller territory is much easier to manage,

according to environmental criteria, and consequently that

there is less chance of environmental abuse. In the same

way, the scarcity of human resources probably makes us

more inclined to consider the problems that we shall

discuss at the World Summit on Social Development in

Copenhagen, namely, individual problems of marginalized

people, of those that cannot follow the competitive

majority in the apparent flow of progress, of the disabled,

the sick, and, in general, all those in need of solidarity.

I know that in a forum such as this Christian

individualism is just a partial approach to these questions,

but I am convinced that, with a translation into other

cultures or religions, on a small scale it is much easier to

give a personal answer to the problems of the many. And

also, in general terms, I think that this philosophy is the

one that often inspires solidarity movements, as is the

case today in Rwanda, where, for example, the spirit of

collective life common to small communities might have

prevented conflict.

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In a world that is increasingly interdependent, and

increasingly globalized, I sincerely believe that the

micro-States, although indeed small, are not superfluous.

And we can even make useful contributions and be points

of reference in many cases. Sovereign States are

increasingly affected by the sovereignty of others and by

necessary international agreements; but freedom, and the

spirit of solidarity are more important than sovereignties or

borders.

I ask the Assembly therefore to consider the possibility

that we all make an effort to act like micro-States: we who

are micro-States, and therefore have no alternative, and

those who are not, because they have come to the

conclusion that this is the way we will all be able, together,

to contribute more positively to peace, progress and

coexistence. And as from the sum of small streams of

water the big rivers are born, perhaps from the sum of

small identities and from respect for others and minorities,

we may be able to build together a more equitable, a more

secure and a more livable world for us, for our children,

and for generations to come.