Bulgaria, 1992

Mr. President, at the outset I should like to express our deep thanks to all

delegations of Member States for the uananimous decision to confer the

presidency of the forty-seventh session of the General Assembly upon us. That

can be conceived as an application of the rules of procedure, which provide

that the presidency of the forty-seventh session will be given to a

representative of Eastern Europe. However, I should also like to see it as

support knowingly given for all that our people have done to ensure that

Bulgaria would remain an example in the difficult transition from dictatorship

towards normalcy.

I should also like to express my delegation's gratitude to

Ambassador Samir Shihabi for his valuable contributions to achievements of the

forty-sixth session.

On behalf of my country I am pleased to welcome the new States Members of

the United Nations. We hope that other peace-loving States prepared to

implement the principles of the Organization will make their contributions.

The Organization's work has now been going on without interruption,

albeit with ups and downs, for 47 years. Today, we are happy to be able to

say that it is entering a new stage. The aggressive communist system that had

set itself the goal of spreading its colour over the entire planet no longer

exists. The peoples under its domination paid dearly for that experiment.

State, economic and social structures are in ruins, and the environment been

degraded. When we add the new investments needed to divert to satisfying the

real needs of society the vast military machinery and weapons stockpiles that

were accumulated we cannot help but exclaim to ourselves: What a waste of

resources!

The common denominator of communism's deeds is the wasting of millions of

human lives. People have been killed, tortured, mutilated and removed from

active life. Let us pay tribute to them, for through their suffering history

has once again demonstrated that although violence may well create empires, it

cannot preserve them.

In assessing today the United Nations place in human civilization we

recall that our inheritance from the Roman Empire was not the frontiers

established by its legions but Roman law, Roman architecture and Roman

philosophy all products of the thinking of the people of that era. The same

holds true for the Eastern or colonial empires. Reason alone leaves lasting

fruits. The failure of the badly brought up and poorly educated who have

tried to govern the world has provided further proof of this.

It is unnecessary to come up with lengthy treatises to understand that

throughout the succession of different forms of social organization the

institutions that last are those that ensure the best opportunities for

thought to emerge, spread, endure and evolve. Thought knows no local or

international boundaries. It creates links across space and time. It truly

unites nations. The best way to give a new impetus to the United Nations is

to work to transform it into an Organization of united minds.

Only the individual can create a thought. Even with the traditional

predominance of the State in society, we must recognize that it is the human

being who bears the responsibility for maintaining parliamentary democracy and

the effective production of goods. The protection of the human rights of each

human being must be the fundamental condition for accepting any State into the

United Nations family. Today, as we assess the 47 years that have gone by and

seek new directions, we see that compromise in this area is very costly and

the price is not paid only by those in the Gulag Archipelago; it is paid by

everyone.

We know that totalitarian regimes provoke domestic and international

crises and that their authoritarian decisions threaten nature and sometimes

even mankind's survival.

I should like to pay tribute to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who submitted his report, "An Agenda for Peace," at

a time when a new atmosphere prevails within the United Nations. The

Bulgarian delegation warmly welcomes his message, which is designed to guide

the Organization towards efficiency and concrete results. It goes

without saying that the fundamental condition for the reform proposed by the

Secretary-General is the bridging of the gap between the declarations of

States and their true policies.

The Bulgarian delegation supports the principal ideas in "An Agenda for

Peace" and welcomes the fact that a "constructive discussion on that basis has

been initiated at the present session. We consider it would be useful to

create a special working group to accelerate the evaluation of comments and

proposals submitted by Member States.

For the Bulgarian delegation the link between international peace,

development and respect for human rights is basic. That link exists in the

Charter, and it was emphasized at the Security Council Summit Meeting on

31 January 1992. We should have it constantly in our minds when discussing

ideas of preventive diplomacy, peace-keeping and peacemaking.

Preventive diplomacy is a necessity, and the Secretary-General must be

supported in his efforts to develop that concept and give it practical

dimensions. In this connection there is a whole range of activities that

might be considered, such as: information-gathering on problems that may

provoke conflicts; the establishment of contacts with forces that may become

involved in conflict; the dispatch of fact-finding or other missions, both

long-term and short-term; the sending of special representatives; the

deployment of civilian or military observers; and, lastly, the deployment of

military troops should the need arise.

United Nations efforts in the realm of preventive diplomacy,

crisis-management and post-conflict peace-building must also include a greater

and more effective cooperation with regional organizations. We support the

Secretary-General's idea of making better use of the potential of regional

organizations. In our view this entails creating a system to coordinate the

efforts of agencies working at both the global and regional levels. As of

now, there could be such coordination with regard to the sending of

fact-finding missions or special rapporteurs, or to similar measures. We

believe that interesting ideas may emerge from a discussion of the

opportunities available to the United Nations to delegate certain functions to

regional organizations as provided in Chapter VIII of the Charter. At the

same time, we must not forget that the supreme responsibility for the

maintenance of peace has been entrusted to the United Nations.

We consider very useful the experience already acquired through the work

of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). As an

example, let us take the establishment of the post of High Commissioner on

National Minorities, whose tasks could well be considered to come within the

field of preventive diplomacy, or all the confidence-building measures drafted

in the course of the Helsinki process, including the recently signed "Open

Skies" Treaty. Here I might mention a measure proposed by the Bulgarian

delegation at the Vienna negotiations, and already successfully tried, which

is to invite accredited military attaches to visit zones of tension in the

country where they are posted. With necessary adjustments, when feasible,

many of these measures could acguire universal status.

We feel that the reverse process could also be employed. The notion of

creating a universal register of conventional arms could also be implemented

at the regional level to prevent quantities of conventional weapons capable of

destabilizing a region from being stockpiled without any preventive control.

Regional registers would not only ensure increased transparency, but would

also assist in the creation and functioning of a world register. Bulgaria

reaffirms its commitment to the implementation of resolution 46/36 L,

"Transparency in armaments."

The reform of the United Nations cannot take place without strengthening

confidence among States. Continuation of the disarmament process is

absolutely necessary if the new climate in the world is to be maintained. We

pay a tribute to Presidents George Bush and Boris Yeltsin for having taken

courageous steps to reduce offensive nuclear weapons and to diminish the risk

of a nuclear holocaust. We hope that they will continue their efforts and

carry this process to its completion.

Encouraged by the success achieved in nuclear disarmament and knowing

that regional conflicts are still raging, we feel that it is time to take a

decisive step to resolve the problem of the non-proliferation of weapons of

mass destruction. As a State party to the non-proliferation Treaty, Bulgaria

knows its value and supports the efforts to make it universal. We are in

favour of having it continue in force indefinitely after 1995.

We participated in the drafting of the Convention on chemical weapons

which we expect to see adopted at this session. From this lofty rostrum I

should like to confirm Bulgaria's will to be among the first countries to sign

the Convention and to work for its entry into force as quickly as possible.

In putting forth efforts to prevent world war, we must not forget that

regional wars are raging. Whether we speak about Iraq, Somalia, on Bosnia and

Herzegovina, the malady is universal, even if solutions can only be individual.

Since the beginning of the Yugoslav crisis, Bulgaria has adopted a

position aimed at preventing the conflict from spreading and at cooperating

with the international community in efforts to find a political solution to

the conflict. We participated in the London Conference, which stimulated

international efforts by launching a process of negotiations under the

auspices of the United Nations and the European Community. Bulgaria firmly

supports the principles drafted by the Conference because we feel that they

are the basis for a lasting and comprehensive solution to the conflict.

Bulgaria has recognized all of the Republics which, in accordance with

constitutional procedures, have clearly expressed their desire to become

sovereign States. That makes it possible to bring all the parties of the

former Federation together round a negotiating table but if one or two of

them were to be absent, it would be impossible to do so. We have therefore

recognized the existing international borders, showing clearly that we are not

getting ready to take advantage of our neighbour's difficulties for

nationalist purposes.

At this time it is extremely important to contain the conflict and to

prevent its spread. The Bulgarian Government has decided to continue to work

together with the international community in carrying out the decisions of the

London Conference and of the Security Council.

An additional but effective way is to deploy international observer

missions. Since the end of last year, the Bulgarian Government has declared

several times that it was ready to accept such a mission on its territory. We

support the decision taken by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in

Europe (CSCE) to send missions to the neighbouring countries of Serbia and

Montenegro and we pay a tribute to the mission of the European Community which

is in Bulgaria.

I should like to recall that we invited another special mission of the

European Community and of the CSCE to lend assistance to our authorities in

the implementation of Security Council resolutions imposing economic sanctions

and the embargo on imports of weapons into the former Yugoslavia.

And while we are speaking of sanctions, I should like to draw the

Assembly's attention to the fact that they also affect the countries which

apply them. Whether we talk about the case of Iraq, Libya or the former

Yugoslavia, a large number of Bulgarian enterprises have been seriously

affected and our entire economy has suffered serious losses. If we wish to

punish only the guilty party, it would be only fair to consider setting up a

compensation programme for the non-guilty party.

Bulgaria will continue its efforts to organize a conference to reaffirm

the applicability in the Balkans of the principles of the CSCE. The Bulgarian

initiative for a Balkan forum is a concrete example of the general principles

of the Helsinki Final Act, as applied to the actual conditions in the

Balkans. In this context the setting up and carrying out of a special

programme for the economic recovery of the Balkan States, a kind of "Marshall

Plan", is of prime importance.

Bulgaria is working to establish relations with neighbouring States on a

stable legal basis. We have concluded treaties of friendship, cooperation and

good-neighbourliness with Greece, Turkey and Romania, and we are now in the

process of signing such a treaty with Albania, Slovenia and Croatia. We wish

to live in peace and a state of good-neighbourliness with all the peoples in

our region, including the Serbian and Montenegrin peoples with whom we have

long historic ties. We hope that, as soon as possible, they will once again

find their place in this Hall. That would be the best sign that the problems

have already been resolved.

The death of thousands of people and the suffering of millions of

others, especially women, children and the elderly, the huge flows of

refugees, and the barbaric practice of ethnic cleansing must not be

forgotten. These flagrant violations of humanitarian international law have

eloquently shown the overriding need to create an international penal court

which would have the competence to judge individuals who commit crimes against

peace and humanity. Perhaps it would be appropriate to analyse the

possibilities of using for these purposes one of the permanent courts already

in existence the International Court of Justice or the European Court of

Human Rights. In any case, this requires discussion and Bulgaria favours

continuing the work of the International Law Commission on drawing up the

draft statute for such a court.

We think that after the cold war it is imperative to strengthen the role

of international law in international relations. This is necessary, in our

view, because the bipolar structure of international relations has disappeared

and therefore it is necessary to replace it with clear, precise, legal rules

which are also universally recognized. On that basis, we should, in our

opinion, promote above all, the strict implementation of the provisions of the

Charter and strengthen the role of the United Nations in international

affairs.

Bulgaria energetically supports all actions and measures which have been

laid down in the biennial programme for the United Nations Decade of

International Law. We are convinced that the most important part of the

programme is the part dealing with ways and means to bring about the peaceful

settlement of international disputes. In this context, I should like to

inform representatives that on 23 June 1992 the Bulgarian Government deposited

with the Secretary-General a Declaration of Acceptance of the binding

jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Furthermore, on that same

day we withdrew our reservations on the jurisdictional provisions of a number

of international conventions, such as the International Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimation, the International Convention

against the Taking of Hostages, and others. I should like to extend the

Bulgarian delegation's support for the recommendation of the Secretary-General

contained in paragraph 38 of his report "An Agenda for Peace", namely that the

General Assembly could, pursuant to Article 96, paragraph 2, of the Charter,

authorize the Secretary-General to take advantage of the advisory competence

of the International Court of Justice. Such a possibility would considerably

strengthen the effectiveness of the work of the Secretary- General.

I began my statement with some thoughts about the role of man as the

only being capable of using reason and of original thought. Honour and

dignity are inherent in each human being, and history shows us that all

conflicts are more or less linked to violations of human rights. Our

Organization has created very good standards in this field and emphasis must

now be placed on improving the machinery for monitoring and implementing

existing standards.

The crises that have followed the disintegration of multinational

federations have demonstrated the importance of the problems of ethnic and

religious minorities within the overall framework of human rights protection.

In this context, my country is deeply concerned over the fate of the Bulgarian

minority in Serbia. Although it is not directly affected by the war, this

population has a justified feeling of insecurity with regard to its future and

identity, and should not be forgotten by the international community.

Democratic Bulgaria has succeeded in finding an original and effective

approach to solving these problems. The Bulgarian Turks have their

representatives in the national parliament, and bear their share of the

responsibility for the future of our country. Ethnic tolerance is a

characteristic trait of the Bulgarian people; one of the most telling example

is the way the Jews in Bulgaria were rescued during the Second World War.

The words "war" and "peace" have been intermingled in my speech, as they

are, moreover, in real life. But it is clear that peace will win out in the

end, because it is in peace that man shows himself to be reasonable and

creative. Those who preach peace still remain among us; those who cry

violence are not. That is why, in Bulgaria, we have said a last farewell to

communism and sided with the nations that are united in their way of thinking.