Austria, 2025

I now give the floor to Her Excellency Beate Meilen-Reisinger, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria. Madam President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends. As the Austrian Foreign Minister, it is both a truly an honor and a profound responsibility to address this Assembly today. Yet I am not only a foreign minister and, by the way, a party leader, I'm also a mother of three daughters. When I reflected about why I'm coming to New York to participate in the General Assembly, it became clear to me. The values of the United Nations are the very same values that my husband and I try to pass down to our children. That conflict and dispute can and must be resolved by mediation. That every human being, regardless of their offspring, sex, religion or race, deserves dignity and owns the same rights. That rules have to be followed by everyone and big problems can only be solved together. And that every one of us has the responsibility to act not only in their own interest but to work for a better future for everyone. I suppose that all parents around the globe share a common wish for their children to grow up with the promise of a bright future. Especially now. Especially in critical times like these. Especially in times when these values and simple rules are threatened by disrespect. Madam President, Excellencies, when I listen to my oldest daughter, a teenager, I sometimes get the feeling that weighs really heavy on me. Namely that for our children, for my children's generation, the future does not seem brighter than the present. We all can sense that there are fundamental fears. Fears of war and conflict, fears of climate change, of radicalization, of fundamentalism and the division of our societies. That burdens me deeply as a mother but also as a leader. I believe that the most powerful and most important promise leaders can make is to do everything in their power to ensure that our future is at least a little better than the present. Yet today we cannot close our eyes to the gap between this aspiration and the harsh reality we live in. For example in Gaza, where devastation, starvation and despair have reached terrible proportions. For Austria it is clear the attacks of Hamas on Israel on October 7th were horrible and beyond imaginable brutality. They must be condemned by all of us. We have said it from day one and will continue to do so, Hamas must immediately and unconditionally free all hostages and its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons. At the same time, nothing justifies the devastating humanitarian catastrophe we are witnessing in Gaza. Civilians must be protected at all times. There is no justification for violating international law, including international humanitarian law. Austria is not only because of our own historical responsibility a friend of the people of Israel, but the actions and decisions of the Israeli government break my heart. This war must end now. The hostages must be freed and humanitarian aid must reach the suffering civilians in Gaza as soon as possible. Our vision, the Austrian vision, is clear, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders. Austria's support for the two-state solution is not just words. We have supported the Palestinian Authority for many decades. At that point in the future, when this step can make the most meaningful contribution to peace and when the right conditions have been met, we will also recognize Palestine as a state. We welcome President Abbas' condemnation of the October 7th attacks, his call to free the hostages, the prospect of elections and his demand to disarm Hamas. We thank all those who took a huge effort to end this war and bring solutions for peace and security to this region. These are steps towards peace and Austria will work with all partners to turn them into reality. Madam President, Excellencies, we all see the basic principles of the charter challenged in Ukraine, where Russia has been waging an illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against its neighbor, a very brutal war with horrific numbers of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians. We support U.S. and all efforts to end the war through high-level diplomacy. Since the beginning of the war and especially since March, many initiatives have been launched to end this war. Ukraine showed several times that they are ready for peace, but instead Russia continues its attacks on cities and villages, on schools, on hospitals and kindergartens. Russia even escalates now towards the EU and NATO countries and this is unacceptable. Austria calls urgently for an immediate ceasefire as a precondition for genuine talks to end this war. Russia cannot simply talk peace during the day and bomb during the night. And it is absolutely clear that it is up to Ukraine and Europe to decide on their, on our hopefully common future and security architecture. But Ukraine and Gaza are not alone. In Sudan, civilians face massacres while a humanitarian catastrophe unfolds on an unparalleled scale. In Haiti, gang violence and organized crime hold an entire nation hostage. In Afghanistan, women and girls are denied their most basic human rights. Against the backdrop of rising insecurity and armed conflicts, countries are now heavily investing in security and defense, also in Europe, also in Austria. We all have the duty to protect our citizens. This is necessary as we are confronted with the biggest war on our continent since 1945. But let us not fool ourselves. Growing nuclear arsenals or uncontrolled autonomous weapons systems will not make our world a safer one. While we all must ensure the safety and security of our populations, we must never give up on international humanitarian law, and we must ban weapons which kill randomly. Excellencies, today we face growing disregard of the UN Charter itself, a rising tide of coercion and unilateralism, a dangerous erosion of trust. The United Nations were born out of the ashes of war and the promise of never again. Do we? Does the UN still live up to this promise? Is the UN still fit for purpose? What we do today matters. We must not fail our ancestors. We must not fail our population. We must not fail our children. We must therefore ensure our activeness, an active world community, and effective United Nations that can deliver. Austria is ready to do its part to fulfill the UN's promise. To engage in open and fair dialogue. To build true partnerships. To rebuild trust that has been eroded by reckless actions of one country without consideration of others. It is about time to rebuild partnerships. It is about time to rebuild trust. That is why Austria presented its candidacy for the UN Security Council for 27-28 already back in 2011. We strongly hope to count on your valuable support at the elections in June next year. Why should you support us? Austria is a rather small country and a military neutral one. We are a reliable host country, proud host country, of one of the UN headquarters in Vienna and support the Secretary General's reform efforts. Many negotiations in Vienna took place that have bridged divides and saved lives. We know that small countries depend on the rule of law, on diplomacy, transparency, and inclusiveness. That's why we will serve the entire international community if elected. We champion international law, the protection of civilians, disarmament, and UN peacekeeping. More than 100,000 Austrians have served as peacekeepers around the world since the 1960s. We are a reliable development partner and make our contribution to the enormous challenge of climate change. And no, denial will not help us to adapt to this challenge. This is why Austria is proud to co-chair the UN Climate Security Mechanism this year. Excellencies, the people of the world, our populations, the children of the world rely on us. They trust us to protect peace, prosperity, stability, and healthy United Nations that delivers answers to global challenges. Eighty years ago, our predecessors gave the world a charter and a promise for a better future. Let us renew this promise and work hard so that the future is better than the present. Thank you very much. I thank the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria.