Austria, 2002

Let me begin

by welcoming Switzerland, our western neighbour, as a

full member of the United Nations and her first

participation in the General Assembly after her

accession. Without our Swiss friends the United

Nations would not be complete. Expanding the global

reach of the United Nations can be seen as a positive

aspect of globalization.

Having supported United Nations efforts to bring

about a solution to the East Timor conflict for many

years, Austria also looks forward to 27 September and

wishes to congratulate East Timor on becoming the

191st Member of the United Nations.

Austria fully aligns itself with the statement made

by the Prime Minister of Denmark on behalf of the

European Union. I should like to add a few

observations to that very comprehensive statement.

Let me reiterate the sympathy of the Austrian

people for the victims of 11 September 2001. Austria

has shown strong solidarity from the first hour after the

attacks and has acted in unison with her European

partners and the United Nations to combat terrorism —

a resolve that remains strong and will continue to do

so.

As a former staff member of the United Nations, I

wish to convey my country's sincere gratitude to the

many dedicated people who are in the service of the

United Nations in New York and at the other

headquarters in Vienna and Geneva, as well as out

there in the field, for their efforts on behalf of the

international community in its fight against terror.

Combating terrorism requires a global effort and

a comprehensive approach: prevention and the

protection of the security of our countries and of the

basic values of freedom and human rights, as well as

coercive measures as a last resort. We must, however,

base our decisions and actions on international law.

The Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee

(CTC) under the very able leadership of Sir Jeremy

Greenstock, Ambassador of the United Kingdom, is at

the core of the United Nations coordinating role.

We must ensure that all States join and can join

those efforts. To promote that goal, Austria hosted a

symposium on combating international terrorism at the

Vienna International Centre in June of this year, which

highlighted the capacity of the Vienna-based United

Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention

(ODCCP) to provide efficient technical assistance to

Member States in their fight against terrorism. Austria

will make an additional million euros available for the

strengthening of the ODCCP.

I am glad to note that Secretary-General Kofi

Annan shares our view on the importance of the

Vienna-based United Nations units, as expressed in his

report on the need to strengthen the Terrorism

Prevention Branch of the Secretariat. The report of

Policy Working Group on the United Nations and

Terrorism published earlier this week comes to the

same conclusion. I therefore call upon the Member

States to support that position.

It is also important to remind ourselves that the

fight against terrorism cannot be fought with soldiers

and policemen alone; we also need to fight the root

causes: the abject levels of poverty, inequality,

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injustice, the lack of sustainable development and of

good governance.

When it comes to dangers for world security, we

also have to focus on unresolved and perilous regional

conflicts, such as in the Middle East. What is needed is

an effort to speedily arrive at a political solution

providing for two States, Israel and Palestine, within

secure and recognized borders. Austria seconds the

idea of an early international conference with the

support of the Quartet and interested countries of the

region aimed at finding solutions to the political issues

such as the final borders of the two States, the final

status of Jerusalem and the question of refugees.

Austria considers the newly designed road map of the

European Union towards the establishment of an

independent and sovereign Palestinian State in the next

three years to be a good basis for achieving a final and

comprehensive settlement of the conflict in accordance

with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338

(1973) and 1397 (2002), taking into consideration the

Arab peace plan adopted in Beirut as well.

While continuing to respect the elected leadership

of the Palestinian people the European Union has

expressed its readiness to give all necessary and

possible support to the reform process of the

Palestinian Authority. Austria participates actively in

those efforts. Austria is also deeply concerned that

human suffering in the conflict has attained

unacceptable levels, be it as a result of terror or of

countermeasures.

The Middle East has also garnered the attention

of the international community in the context of the

danger of the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction. The growing tensions result from the

continued non-compliance with United Nations

Security Council resolutions on the part of Iraq. The

potential threat of weapons of mass destruction

endangering world peace through such policies should

not and cannot be tolerated. For that reason Austria

supports the tireless efforts of the Secretary-General to

bring about the speedy, unfettered and unconditional

return of United Nations weapons inspectors to Iraq,

along with full compliance with the obligations

contained in all relevant Security Council resolutions.

Austria welcomes the statement of President

George Bush seeking broad international and

multilateral support and cooperation with the Security

Council on the issue of how to deal with the threat

emanating from regimes that support terror or seek to

acquire weapons of mass destruction. Only the Security

Council can provide the legitimacy we need. At the

same time, it is evident that the Security Council itself

has to take responsibility for ensuring full compliance

with its resolutions in order to maintain world peace.

The conflict between India and Pakistan over the

issue of Kashmir also needs an urgent political

solution. The consequences of an escalation could be

catastrophic for the region and beyond.

In recent weeks, we have been starkly reminded

of the fact that Afghanistan, which has been wrested

from Taliban and Al Qaeda rule and has had a

promising new start with the assistance of the

international community, has yet to achieve a lasting

peace and stability. The international community

should remain committed and has to continue its

support of the new Government of Afghanistan.

The fight against terrorism and violent

fundamentalism in Afghanistan has also highlighted the

importance of the whole region of Central Asia. During

its chairmanship of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe in 2000, Austria made it a

priority to draw the attention of world opinion to the

unresolved issues and problems and to the very

impressive potential of that region given mutually

useful cooperation and good governance.

Turning to our own neighbourhood, I want to

reiterate the importance Austria attributes to European

Union enlargement and our firm commitment to

finalizing the ongoing negotiating process towards the

end of this year. Austria looks forward to welcoming

new members by 2004, thus turning the vision of a

united Europe into reality and extending the European

zone of peace, stability and welfare to the whole

continent and beyond.

I am glad to note that South-Eastern Europe has

made substantial progress towards stability generated

by various multilateral initiatives, particularly the

Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe and the Zagreb

process. As an additional instrument for enhancing

development in that region, in May of this year the

Danube Cooperation Project was launched in Vienna,

the aim of which is to make use of the Danube River as

an integrative factor connecting the 13 countries of the

whole Danube basin.

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The dialogue among civilizations, which Austria

has strongly supported from the beginning, is a new

and important tool of diplomacy that should help us

drain the breeding grounds of terrorism. In order to

take this dialogue from the elites to the general public,

we need to cooperate with the media. To that end, I

organized an expert seminar on the role of the media in

the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership

in June of this year. This effort is designed to lead,

hopefully, to a media code of conduct to emanate from

the media themselves in order to create better

understanding between the cultures and commonly to

project messages shedding a positive light on cultural

diversity.

As of July of this year, Austria has chaired the

Human Security Network, the only interregional

grouping in the United Nations framework particularly

propelling issues of human security. In my capacity as

Chairperson of that group, I have put the following two

issues at the top of our agenda: the needs for a globally

shared acquisition of a human rights culture through

human rights education and for effectively addressing

the terrible plight suffered by an ever-growing number

of children in the world exposed to the horrors of

armed conflict. The first “human rights city” in Europe,

the Austrian city of Graz, will also host next year's

ministerial meeting of the Human Security Network. In

this context I should also like to express Austria's

strong support for the adoption of the draft protocol of

the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,

Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

In my function as President of the Human

Security Network, I have also taken the initiative, in

the framework of the group of female foreign

ministers, to raise the issue of Amina Lawal in a

common letter to the Foreign Minister of Nigeria in

order to remind Nigeria of its obligations under

international human rights law.

In the Millennium Declaration, we set clear

targets for our combined development efforts as

Member States. We all did this in recognition of the

priority attached to the fight against poverty and for a

better and more equitable world. Disastrous floods in

parts of Central Europe, including my own country, in

Asia and the Americas, as well as droughts in other

parts of the world just before the start of the World

Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg,

were a painful indication of changes rendering

sustainable development even more important. The

Summit brought about an action programme and a

political declaration, which we welcome, although we

would have wished to take some issues even further,

such as in the field of renewable energy. I share the

view of the Secretary-General that the Summit has

instigated global action among a wide range of actors.

It has highlighted the relationship between economy,

ecology, social issues and development. It has also

reaffirmed the Doha and Monterrey compromises.

The follow-up will have to cut through the

complexities of the process and to pursue the most

pressing issues. Implementation is the key word. This

will be best accomplished by sectoral conferences on

the major issues involved. Austria appreciates that the

Summit has helped convince some major countries to

join the ranks of those, such as Austria, that have

already ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

Before closing, let me express my best wishes for

a successful session of the Assembly under

Mr. Kavan's guidance and allow me also to thank his

predecessor, Mr. Han Seung-soo, for his leadership and

his efforts towards strengthening the General

Assembly.

Having returned deeply impressed from South

Africa, let me close by quoting a real hero and a man

who stands for his principles while promoting

reconciliation — Mr. Nelson Mandela. The following

quote is from the entrance to the Apartheid Museum in

Johannesburg, which I just visited: “To be free is not

merely to put off one's chains, but to live in a way that

respects and enhances the freedom of others.”