Bulgaria, 2006

Allow me first of all to

align myself with the very warm congratulations

addressed to you, Madam President, on your election to

your very important position. I would like to assure

you once again of the full support of my country in

your endeavours for further reform of our Organization

and for the consolidation of its role in the coming year.

I would also like to express our gratitude to the

previous President of the General Assembly, Mr. Jan

Eliasson, for his dedicated and efficient work and for

the achievements that were made in implementing

United Nations reforms.

I would also like to greet the newest member of

our large family, the Republic of Montenegro. I am

sure that that country from our region, South-East

Europe, will spare no effort in contributing to the work

of the United Nations.

(spoke in French)

Bulgaria is on the threshold of a historic

achievement. After 17 years of reforms to build

political democracy and a market economy, my country

is preparing to join the European Union (EU) on

1 January 2007. Our journey, although difficult, has

been successful. I am certain that, as a new member of

the Union, Bulgaria will contribute added value to the

European Common Foreign and Security Policy. We

will work with even greater determination for a strong

and effective United Nations, which must be at the

very centre of the global security and development

system. Bulgaria endorses the position set out earlier

by the Finnish presidency of the EU.

We welcome the fact that concrete outcomes have

been achieved in implementation of the radical reform

process launched at last year’s World Summit. We hope

that that the momentum will be maintained and that the

process, which is necessary and useful for all Member

countries, will move forward even more quickly.

I would like to express our profound respect and

gratitude to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for

his tireless efforts throughout the past decade to

strengthen the United Nations in a globalized world.

I would like to refer to the resolution that was

recently adopted on the revitalization of the work of

the General Assembly. The implementation of the

resolution should lead to enhanced coordination of the

work of the General Assembly, the Security Council

and the Economic and Social Council, and to a

strengthened role for the President of the General

Assembly, a streamlined agenda and improved methods

of work.

No United Nations reform effort would be

complete without the crucial element of Security

Council reform. Despite all the efforts made, we have

not yet been able to reach consensus on a viable

formula for Council expansion that can be supported

by all Member States. Bulgaria believes that any

reform exercise should increase the representativity

and legitimacy of the Council, while preserving the

effectiveness of its decisions and its key role in

maintaining peace and security. We also support efforts

to improve its working methods.

At the level of institutional reform, two new

United Nations bodies have been established: the

Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights

Council. Their potential will be realized in the future.

There are certain areas, however, where the desired

progress is far from being achieved: mandate review,

the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council,

17 06-53323

ensuring effective management and promoting

coordination among the agencies and bodies of the

United Nations system. Despite the challenges, our

work must continue at an accelerated pace with a view

to the achievement of concrete results during this

session.

I would like to point out that yesterday Bulgaria

deposited its instruments of ratification relating to the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women and the United Nations

Convention against Corruption. We also attach great

importance to combating the traffic in human beings

and drugs, as well as to the fight against organized

crime.

Five years on from 11 September 2001, terrorism

in all its manifestations continues to pose a genuine

threat to human civilization. That is why Bulgaria

welcomes the launching of the United Nations Global

Counter-Terrorism Strategy to fight that scourge at all

levels. The consensus that has emerged regarding the

Strategy must give impetus to the process of adopting a

comprehensive international convention on terrorism,

in accordance with the decisions taken at the 2005

World Summit. Such a convention would provide the

international community with an effective,

comprehensive, universal legal framework for the fight

against that scourge and give substance to its firm

condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations.

Bulgaria supports all initiatives to promote

dialogue and mutual understanding among people of

different religions, ethnic groups and cultures.

Bulgarian history and our national experience have

always been characterized by dialogue and tolerance.

In this context, we look forward to the

recommendations of the High-Level Panel of the

Alliance of Civilizations, and we will take part in their

implementation.

Bulgaria pursues a policy aimed at promoting

effective arms control, the non-proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction and disarmament. We are

concerned about the genuine threat of destabilization

affecting legal instruments currently in force, in

particular the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT), because of non-compliance

with obligations and unilateral withdrawals by certain

States.

We support the entry into force of the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We firmly

believe that the unresolved question of the Iranian

nuclear programme should be dealt with promptly, on

the basis of Security Council resolution 1696 (2006)

and relevant decisions of the International Atomic

Energy Agency. Likewise, we call for the

implementation of Security Council resolution 1695

(2006) and urge progress in the six-party talks on the

North Korean nuclear problem.

The United Nations must be endowed with

sufficient capacity to enable it to deploy

multidimensional peacekeeping operations that are

aimed not just at maintaining peace, but also at

strengthening the sovereignty of States and building

democratic institutions that will guarantee the stability

of peace processes. In this context, I would like to

point out that yesterday Bulgaria signed the Optional

Protocol to the Convention on the Security of United

Nations and Associated Personnel.

As a member of NATO and the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe, as a future

member of the European Union and as a country that

contributes troops to peacekeeping operations,

Bulgaria actively promotes effective partnership and

cooperation among the United Nations and regional

and subregional organizations in activities aimed at

conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

Current cooperation between the European Union, the

United Nations and the African Union is an

encouraging example of such cooperation, which is

already bearing fruit.

My country is actively contributing to long-term

security and stability in South-East Europe. We

welcome the fact that the Balkans are now seen as a

region, not of crisis and conflict, but of cooperation

and integration. One convincing example of political

cooperation among the countries of that region is the

South-East Europe Cooperation Process. Bulgaria is

preparing to assume the chairmanship of that Process

in mid-2007, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that

that structure can support regional cooperation and

promote European and Euro-Atlantic integration in that

part of Europe.

In addressing our geographic region, I cannot

overlook the problem of Kosovo. Reaching a decision

on the future status of that province is on the agenda of

the international community. Bulgaria is playing a very

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active role in efforts aimed at creating the atmosphere

of trust and openness necessary for the holding of such

negotiations. We fully support the Special Envoy of the

Secretary-General, Mr. Martti Ahtisaari, in his efforts

to find a solution, based on the maximum amount of

common ground, to which both parties could agree. We

call on the international community to let itself be

guided by the principles of sustainability, monitoring,

regional stability and the European perspective in

working out a final decision on the status of Kosovo.

Bulgaria attaches particular importance to the

situation in the Middle East. We welcome and support

the efforts of the Secretary-General and the Security

Council, as well as the key role being played by the

European Union in the expanded United Nations

Interim Force in Lebanon, which is called on to ensure

peace in southern Lebanon in implementation of

Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). Bulgaria will

make its own contribution to the international

community’s efforts to bring about lasting peace.

We remain convinced that the crisis in Israeli-

Palestinian relations would be best resolved by direct

negotiations between the countries concerned, based on

an absolute rejection of the use of force and with the

necessary support of the international community. We

support all of the efforts to that end on the part of the

Quartet, as presented yesterday here at the United

Nations.

Bulgaria greatly appreciates United Nations

initiatives relating to the stabilization of the political

and constitutional process in Iraq, as well as the

principles set out in the International Compact. We will

continue to meet our obligations in Iraq in support of

national institutions aimed at providing for the security

and prosperity of that country.

We support all positive trends towards

strengthening the sovereignty of Afghanistan. During

the past year, my country doubled its participation in

the International Security Assistance Force. We support

the Afghanistan Compact adopted at the London

Conference a few months ago.

We welcome the adoption of Security Council

resolution 1706 (2006), whose implementation will

assist in the implementation of the political agreements

recently reached on the Sudan. In our view, the

international community must take urgent action to

address the humanitarian tragedy in Darfur.

Bulgaria, with more than 50 years’ experience as

an active and responsible Member of our Organization,

and which has served three terms in the Security

Council and held the presidency of the General

Assembly for one year, has submitted its candidacy to

the Economic and Social Council for the period 2007-

2009. I am convinced that our country’s experience and

expertise, as well as its commitment to contribute to

strengthening the effectiveness of the United Nations,

are important reasons to support our candidacy.

(spoke in English)

We are witnessing and also taking an active part

in the implementation of the most important reform

since the United Nations was founded. Today more

than ever before, the peoples of the world need our

Organization to help establish long-lasting peace,

prosperity and a better future for new generations. We

must succeed in reforming the United Nations so that it

can change the world for the better.